Kings and Queens Don't Play Chess
by SummerMistedDragon
Summary: ENDGAME SPOILERS! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! The scales are unbalanced, they have been for a very long time. And someone is getting pissed off that this keeps happening. So she decides to set things right. Very unconventionally...the Universe is not ready for this...no one is. Undying is a far worse fate than torture, making one long for the sweet pain of death.
1. Chapter 1

_**ENDGAME SPOILERS!**_

_**YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**_

* * *

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! If I did, Tony would be yelling at me.**

**Summary: The scales are unbalanced, they have been for a very long time. And someone is getting pissed off that this keeps happening. So she decides to set things right. Very unconventionally...the Universe is not ready for this...no one is. Undying is a worse fate than torture, making you long for the sweet pain of death.**

**Review Please!**

* * *

**Chapter One**

Xxx

_Somewhere, Some Planet_

_Some Year, Long Past_

Xxx

It shouldn't surprise her, not really, the kingdom was dying.

The whole planet was, cursed to its eternal wasteland state that had befallen the lands before she was born.

Well…three weeks before to be exact…

War had ravaged the out-holdings before the horrible happened and the might of the Gods rained down on the realm. By the time she was old enough to understand why her stories had become such hardened memories, it was too late. Her home, her planet was dying, not enough wood, not enough food, not enough life…and too many souls crying to the stars.

They needed a miracle, a victory…a merciful savior.

She didn't agree with her mother's choice in that word.

_Merciful_

There was no mercy in deaths, not in her eyes.

But there she was, being strung up in semi-royal status claiming clothing, the colors of the ruling clan adorned her leather gear, covering warm silk-soft under clothes that provided insultation and cushion. She had no idea at the time of the exchange, just how much she'd come to welcome the extra protection. And how much she would come to regret not accepting heavier robes.

Her hair…having been allowed to grow to nearly her knees, was coiled up so the braids hung past her shoulder blades. The weight of the dark tresses was almost mirroring that of a crown, like the one her mother wore as the Regent Queen directed the formal proceedings she was throwing her own daughter into. A daughter who had barely reached puberty, and yet was taking on the weight of the planet. The crown, designated for the ruling clan leader, would never grace her head, not now.

Not when her life was being handed over to the _merciful_ savior, the one who had promised peace and protection to the entirety of their realm, if the princess was given to him in a fair trade.

A single life for millions, the living and the potential. As a ruler, the price was understandable if not a tad small all things considered. As a leader, sacrifice was the cost of victory.

As a mother, handing over her own child…that should have been a price too high to pay, kingdom or no.

But her mother didn't even spare her only child a glance, sending her daughter into the hands of the being from another world…or realm…or…she didn't care. Her mother…her Regent, was casting her out to save their realm from Death.

And it worked, the trade was complete as his hand wrapped around her upper arm, nearly engulfing the entire limb with the size difference. If he stooped, a great deal, he might get her arm back to a better angle again, not wrenched badly behind her slender frame, still a bit lanky with youth.

Wood and provisions were being unloaded from the ugly ships, the very ships she was guided to by the one holding her arm, enough to feed the clan holdings for at least a decade. She knew similar happenings were occurring all over the planet, jumpstarting the world once again since the lands had lost the ability to do so independently after the war centuries ago.

One for millions, this better be worth it.

Xxx

Xx

Xxx

_New York_

_2012_

Xxx

The man of Iron collapsing in the lobby of his tower…not exactly what Loki was expecting when seconds before had been in the process of escorting the God of Mischief-shackles and muzzle and all.

The special case holding the Tesseract falling, being shoved across the floor by something unseen…and then dumping the Tesseract at Loki's feet…

Unexpected

And welcomed.

With barely a thought, Loki was gone, falling back into the Void in utter relief. While he was a master at many things, getting himself out of Adamantium restraints was not one of them, and the Void allowed him time. Something Loki hadn't had much of, at least to himself and no one else, in a very long time.

The Void…the shadows, the veins of Yggdrasil, the world between worlds…

He'd mastered stepping into this space that didn't exist centuries ago, sometimes with spells, others with objects. The Tesseract was perfect…the bruises the others didn't see, hidden beneath glamours that hid wounds, and scars, and colors…it all sapped his strength, and only made his headache all that more torrential in the pain radiating to the core of his mind.

Chains had bound him still, physically first, but mentally soon after-gripping his thoughts and emotions to rip apart memories like wet paper. And now…the chains were snapped, no longer tied to the locks that had forced him, his will no longer_ guided_ by a puppet master with knives for strings.

At least with the vague shadows and fog ensconcing his immediate surroundings, it was unlikely anything else stupid enough to use the Void as a hiding spot would be able to get near him without disturbing the cover.

That's how the Void worked, the fogs and shadows hid what didn't want to be found, and if something disturbed the lazy flow of particles and dust that masked the space within a space…the mask fell away and showed everything.

And Loki literally meant…everything…

With the time he was given, Loki let himself rest…let his magic swirl out from where it had been bound, letting himself heal…really heal…for the very first time in years.

The Void let him, not fighting the new energy, nor did it hinder his work. It did flex at the intrusion, while familiar with Loki's brand of power, it didn't seem interested in defending itself like it had other times he'd used the shadows to travel.

This time, it formed a hole, somewhere the likes of a broken god could use to recover. While clouded behind the shadows, bones knit over weak gaps, tears in muscles were sewn together, organs were patched and smoothed over, scars were either faded out or hidden behind much better shields…recover…

And regroup, with the tesseract in his possession…the power contained within the glass-like cube…just maybe…

Loki was not expecting the clouds to billow away from him, obscuring his vision until the figure approaching was close enough their darkness was a deeper shadow than the rest.

They were slim, built for running, or knife fighting-Loki would know. Their garb was similar to his, leather and stitched etchings covered their form, a hood obscuring their face entirely. Loki made to stand, stumbling violently when his ragged clothes and armor-hadn't fixed that yet-snagged on the stupid cuffs.

By then it was too late, the figure had the Tesseract in a gloved hand, holding it to their side with little care of the muzzled god before them.

Loki glared, almost shaking as his power snapped out, at least as far as the Adamantium would allow it. But the muzzle was unlocked and fell into Loki's lap.

"How-"

"Dare I?" The voice was hoarse, low and unused other than screaming, Loki knew that tone all too well. The figure flicked their wrist, allowing the glow of the Tesseract to coil up their arm in coils of light, the tendrils glimmered along dark leather until twisting under a heavier sleeve to be absorbed closer to the skin.

"You bring something like this into the Void and don't expect repercussions? You are not meant to be here, not with this."

Loki growled, managing to stumble to his feet. The figure might have been wearing heeled boots, he couldn't tell, but they were close to his height, and while looking down into a dark hood and scarf, he managed to regain a bit of his control over the situation to earn a step back from the intruder.

"I come here seeking nothing more than-"

"To heal, I know, you look terrible." The figure stepped to the side, putting just enough space between them so they both could pace, much like cats picking a fight and scoping out the opponent.

"And yet here you are-"

A low sigh was his interruption the second time, the figure holding up the Tesseract and rolling their wrist once more, the coils moved faster, the internal glow even dimming a little within the case before it settled back to normal. A supernatural beacon in the shadow space.

"I'm here to fix this, now-"

Loki grunted, hissing in pain when the figure flicked their other hand, shoving the dropped muzzle back over his face. They did however, finish what Loki had started, and the dents and rips on his armor were sealed over before the Tesseract was placed in his shackled grip.

"Take this, and pass it back properly, and do _not_ come in here again, you don't belong here."

While annoying, confusing, and obviously powerful, Loki was more frustrated with the figure for slamming the heel of their palm against his chest, wrenching him off his feet.

Xxx

And back to New York.

Thor was the one who caught him, stumbling at the force of Loki just about body slamming into him. The God of Thunder grunted before shoving Loki to his feet properly, glaring with all the fury of an overly pissed off brother.

A Shield agent took the Tesseract, staring in disgust at the God of Mischief before the cube was locked away again.

Loki huffed through the muzzle, narrowing his eyes at the Asgardian he once called brother, now he just saw red.

Xxx

Xx

Xxx

_01:24am_

Xxx

"Mommy?"

Pepper jerked out of sleep, that voice the only one still able to do so without sending panic to her heart.

Turning enough to see the little girl in her doorway, Pepper rubbed the sleep from her eyes before speaking.

"What's wrong sweetie? Why are you awake?"

"There's a man from the lake."

"Morgan…" Pepper eased out of bed, forcing slumber heavy limbs to move when her daughter scrambled into arms, "There's no one here sweetie, FRIDAY wouldn't let anyone come close to the house."

"But there's a man from the lake!"

While some parenting books said to put things as back to normal as possible, Pepper refused to ignore her daughter's worries. Morgan had been anxious and unsettled since the funeral, and her mother was going to do her best to ease that.

Pepper stood, loving the feeling of tiny arms and legs wrapping around her tightly while SI's CEO trekked downstairs and to the windows facing the deck and lake.

"Look sweetie…there's no-"

There was a man on the deck, sprawled out on the wood planks and not moving.

"FRIDAY-"

"_Compound has been notified, help is arriving_-"

The hiss of thrusters and whine of hot engines were music to Pepper's ears, Wilson landing on the deck at a run to stand guard in front of the two ladies within the house. Rhodey was walking down the deck towards the unmoving body. When War Machine crouched down to investigate, Pepper wasn't expecting the house to suddenly throw itself into lockdown.

She especially wasn't expecting to hear over the comm system for someone to get ahold of Dr. Strange _and_ Thor…because Rhodey was currently pointing a gun at Loki.

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**Tada?**

**Review please?**


	2. Chapter 2

_**ENDGAME SPOILERS!**_

_**YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**_

* * *

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! If I did, Tony would be yelling at me.**

**Summary: The scales are unbalanced, they have been for a very long time. And someone is getting pissed off that this keeps happening. So she decides to set things right. Very unconventionally...the Universe is not ready for this...no one is. Undying is a worse fate than torture, making you long for the sweet pain of death.**

**Review Please!**

**To _georgiapeach2016, Stefnato, RicardianScholar Clark-Weasley, Ashfire28, Mistycharming, bella cullen the original, LightProud, Akane-chaan, Yuna Yami Mouto, ales1698, ravenfett, Whitemiko12, KorvaCthonic, Kleoparda, WendyDarlingofCamelot, brenna1, lexum09: _Thank you all so much for the Faves and Follows!**

**Calvin: Thank you! I shall try my best!**

**Star: Original, if I didn't make that clear I'm sorry, :-) Here's to more!**

**fhjdhjrth: Thank you! Read on to find out!**

**Guest: Thank you so much! Well here's more and please let me know what you think!**

* * *

**Chapter Two  
**

_**Note: Here's my AU BIG note, Steve returns the Stones to their proper times, but does NOT spend a life with Peggy. I really did not like that plot twist at all, but here's to make things perfectly clear. Steve does NOT go and live with Peggy. Stones returned, Steve returned, same age.  
**_

Xxx

_Just before one am on Midgard_

_Somewhere between the Worlds_

Xxx

"You really should choose your words more carefully."

…_Undying_…

Funny, considering he was the master at faking his own death with nary a trace or flaw in his plans.

This time, it had felt like the death had been real. While strangulation wasn't something new in the scheme of torture methods Thanos had used on him…Loki still hadn't been expecting the hand to close completely.

Lack of air made the memory fuzzy, but Loki had felt the crackling of bones in his neck giving way from the pressure. His windpipe had been crushed about the same time one of the veins on the left side of Loki's neck had collapsed, and the bruising would have been incredible had his heart been beating.

Which…considering that's what the organ was trying to do right now, Loki wasn't sure if he had unintentionally failed in yet another fake death…or if undying had been taken a bit more seriously than he'd intended.

His head throbbed with every weak, unstable pulse through his veins, the heat from swelling and bruising throughout his throat and neck was unbearable to the point of screaming.

There was not enough air in his lungs, he couldn't draw it in to remain conscious, at least twice Loki knew he blacked out entirely and somehow managed to regain awareness, the pain never changed, all-encompassing until the scarceness of air tossed him back into oblivion. The third time he stirred, dark boots were supporting a crouching figure, their shape having disturbed the dim fog Loki hadn't been able to discern until now.

While the Void had yet again recognized Loki, it hadn't done him any favors, cold and unwavering. Dark to the point it wasn't until the owner of the boots before him lightly tipped his head up to expose his throat further, did Loki see they were projecting a small light to navigate the emptiness.

Just that small range of motion made Loki cringe, unable to cry out and his eyes blurring further with tears around the spots clouding his hazy vision. The intruder gently brushed some of the hair from his eyes, the light casting odd shadows over their body. Somewhere, Loki thought he recognized them, but the pain and lack of air wasn't doing him any favors.

Before he could do really anything further, the figure rested a hand on his chest, the placement familiar and distant until Loki felt the shove in his veins, throwing him from the Void once again.

Xxx

_June 4th, 2023_

_01:58am_

Xxx

James Rhodes had seen a lot of things, and he meant a lot.

Getting an emergency signal calling from Stark's lake house where Pepper and Morgan were sleeping, was not entirely abnormal all things considered…but Rhodey had forced his suit's thrusters to the max as soon as the signal came in. Tony had intended on putting a lot of space between the property and the Avengers Compound, instead Pepper convinced him to stay with an eight hour drive. Reality was, the driving distance was just over six, because of the location. Suit time and obviously avoiding roads, was about five minutes at Mach 4.

While he was expecting something from a would-be assassin to take over the Stark Dynasty…all the way to an over eager neighbor gone wrong…

No way in hell did Rhodey ever think to find a barely breathing God of Mischief lying face down on Pepper's water dock behind the lake house. A short scan revealed, yes…Thor's crazy ass brother was somehow still alive and actually there, not just a fucked up hologram or illusion. The longer scan was enough to get Wilson down from the deck to help War Machine turn the long body over for a better assessment.

Lights on the suit revealed the almost black bruising completely ensconcing the god's throat, slight variances in color were the only indicators that this had been done by a hand-a large one. One of Loki's eyes was blood red from a burst vessel, the tear tracks along his cheek stained with the rust color showing more serious bleeding internally.

Rhodey was less worrying about that, than he was the fleeting vital signs. Loki couldn't breathe…

"What the hell…Rhodes-"

"Call Banner."

"What?"

The masked head jerked up to meet Sam's gaze through the Falcon goggles, "Call Banner. Get his ass on a quinjet and out here, we gotta get him breathin'."

"Are you crazy!? This is-"

"_Thor's_ brother, you wanna be the one to tell the God of Thunder we let his brother suffocate?" Rhodey didn't watch for a response, nor did he need to. FRIDAY must have relayed the situation back to the compound as the whine of a quinjet approaching overpowered Sam's next argument.

Meanwhile, Rhodey let the gloves of the suit retract, using his fingertips to carefully check Loki's neck to ensure he wasn't bleeding along the arteries on the sides. Just with that contact he could feel deep swelling, and judging by how Loki's eyes narrowed he was in immense pain. The god tracked Rhodey's finger, able to see and understand but not move his head, or even breathe as his eyes started to roll back. Rhodey carefully tilted his head back further, trying to open the airway a bit more that was obviously constricted with swelling. Loki jerking at Rhodey's touch and tightening his hands into fists relayed even more damage.

"FRIDAY…what's going on?" Bruce's voice announced his approach.

"_Severe bruising throughout cervical vertebrae, C2, C3, and C5 all have various levels of cervical fractures while C4 is 87% crushed_."

Banner hissed softly as he crouched nearby. "Don't move his neck any further, if just a shard gets loose it could cut a nerve or his spinal cord."

"He's still not breathing Doc, can't open his air way with all that swelling."

"Those vitals need to calm down before we can get his neck strapped up, I can't-" Banner was already holding an oxygen mask out, Sam taking it in a flash and applying it to Loki's face when the god flinched violently seeing the green doctor.

"I don't think he's gonna let you get closer doc." Wilson assessed, trying to adjust the mask so Loki could breathe, it wasn't working and for a second time Loki's eyes started to roll back.

"Tracheostomy, we gotta get him breathing." Banner took the med kit Bucky was bringing from the jet, leaving Steve and Natasha to check on Pepper and Morgan.

"How the hell are we gonna do that?"

"What do you-"

"Doc your hands are bigger than his head!"

"We can't wait for Dr. Cho-"

"You could crush him-"

Bucky's metal fist knocked on the med kit, the metal on metal ringing loudly in the dark night, "Just shut up!"

With a growl the super soldier grabbed the bottle of rubbing alcohol and antiseptic, dumping some on Loki's throat while directing Sam to hold the God's head still.

"Doc, talk me through this and be ready to pass me shit, Rhodes keep your lights away from my arm so I can see."

"You ever done this before Barnes?" Wilson's question was met with a low grunt.

A shrug proceeded the sergeant taking the cloths and gauze Banner passed him, the soldier moving faster now that the other three were listening, "Not on a god…and not with this much bruising, Rhodes be ready to hold shit, can't let blood get in his lungs."

Banner huffed but began readying the equipment, nodding in thanks when Steve joined him to dig through the small kit.

"You got this Buck?"

"_Shit_!" Bucky ignored Steve suddenly at his side, elbowing the Captain out of the way when he got too close and Bucky had to take a knife to cut Loki's clothing away from his throat and upper chest. "Fucking…is his clavicle broken?"

"What?"

The dark eyes shot up to look to Rhodey, "Is his clavicle broken? His collar bone? I can't go in his throat, I gotta go lower. Can't shove bone spurs anywhere."

"FRIDAY?"

"_Negative Colonel_."

With that information Barnes dumped the last of the rubbing alcohol over his hands, metal and gloved. Banner passed the scalpel out of Loki's range of sight, careful to keep his voice down on instructions so to not startle Thor's brother any further. Steve helped Sam keep Loki still, murmuring softly in vague reassurance when the god's hands balled into fists again the second Barnes started lightly poking his lower throat.

The quick incision was bloody, Barnes unable to completely avoid the bruising, Rhodey helped hold the cut open, keeping a light trained on the spot as carefully as he could while trying to stem the blood flow enough Barnes could still see. Steve held the tube at the ready, watching for Barnes' hand while the sergeant found and neatly cut a hole in Loki's windpipe. The tube going in made Loki tense up, a broken whine almost gargling from his mouth in pain; the air bag being locked on the port and Wilson automatically beginning to manually pump air to Banner's count was enough for the god to go limp.

Rhodey had seen a lot of things, the utter relief entirely emanating from Loki's being at finally getting the air he needed, was right on par with the look on Tony's face a decade and a half ago when the colonel's search group found him in the desert.

Without worrying about Loki fighting them or going into cardiac arrest, it was only took ten minutes for Barnes via Banner's directions to secure the Tracheostomy tube and port, carefully packing the area with gauze before accepting the neck brace Banner had adjusted with FRIDAY's measurement scans. Once his head and neck was immobilized, Loki's eyes slid shut, leaving him unmoving and compliant while a back board was secured under his torso. It took the three men easing him onto a stretcher while Sam continued manually pumping air, for Loki to even show he was still conscious.

Barnes helped lock the gurney open, making it easier to roll to the quinjet. Before he started to get out of the way, Loki's fingers caught his, both hands bloody for their own reasons, making the soldier pause.

The deep green eyes locked on the sergeant's, clouded with pain and exhaustion, but for someone trained for over half a century to kill, Bucky recognized the gratitude when he saw it and so did War Machine.

Rhodey and Steve were the ones to move the gurney, Wilson still on air duty while Banner prepped the quinjet with Barnes after just a glimpse of the partially hulked doctor made Loki jerk against the gurney restraints.

Obviously there were still hard feelings there, Rhodey had seen the security footage after New York…he didn't blame Loki for being a bit touchy about the green guy.

Natasha reappeared after Barnes and Wilson had finished switching Loki from the manual air pumps to the machine tanks in the jet, the controlled rhythm a lulling hum that settled Loki down again even if he was surrounded by those likely to actually harm him all things considered.

The colonel suspected it was utter exhaustion and lack of strength than anything else, that and Bruce directed Natasha to insert an IV, handing a sedative over once Loki had stopped watching the woman's actions.

Once under, Loki actually looked worse, his eyes closed showed the bruising on even his eye lid of the left side, the ghostly pallor to his skin more obvious inside the quinjet lights.

Steve glanced at the group, stopping on Natasha, "Pepper and Morgan?"

"They're fine, Morgan woke up from a nightmare and saw Loki through a window, woke up Pepper in confusion. Friday had already sent the signal to the compound once Pepper got downstairs and saw for herself. Morgan told me she just saw him lying on the dock, no signs of a struggle or arrival or anything. Security footage shows an empty dock at 1:38am, and 1:40am Loki is there, but no alarms were triggered. There was an error for 1:39am, FRIDAY is running diagnostics and sending everything to the compound for review."

Bruce sighed, settling in his altered seat on the quinjet to accommodate his size, "That's helpful…"

Steve echoed his sigh, glancing at Rhodes for confirmation before nodding for Wilson and Romanoff to head to the front, "Let's get back to the compound, Dr. Cho is waiting and we need to get a message to the_ Benatar_ and Thor."

Xxx

Xx

Xxx

_June 25th, 2023_

_02:48am_

Xxx

It had taken Natasha Romanoff sixteen hours from initial transmission to message reception on the Benatar, for her to get the word to Thor. The Guardians of the Galaxy had been extremely lucky they hadn't left the quadrant two sections adjacent to Terra's location, if they'd been any farther than eighteen hours from the nearest jump point, Rocket might have had to stun the pirate angel instead of just get him drunk enough not to fight the seat restraints. As it was, Thor was almost uncontrollable once the signal had gone through and message relayed.

While the Guardians had very little personal experience with Loki, they knew of him, and though hesitant, did bring Thor back to Earth as fast as the ship was able to.

Thor just wished he hadn't left the planet in the first place. Not that he'd had any idea his brother could possibly be alive after his neck was snapped and the Sakaarian ship blown up.

Part of the Asgardian wanted to believe it was all a trick, but after arriving at the Compound to see Steve waiting for him, grim faced and silent, the slight hope had begun to fade. Entering the infirmary and finding Loki in the Intensive Care section, dashed all hope that this was how his brother had planned any of it.

While nearly barbaric in appearance, the tube and brace allowing Loki to breathe was a Midgardian marvel Thor would not argue with, nor would he protest the collar that restrained Loki's head to allow his neck to heal. Natasha and Bruce had explained the x-rays and other images the doctors had taken. The cracks and discolorations on the tests relaying the intense damage.

Loki should actually be dead this time…if they'd been even a few minutes later in helping him, or if Stark's child hadn't woken up, Thor's brother would never have made it til dawn.

As it was, the doctors had kept Loki sedated to let his body heal. The swelling on his throat was going down, but severely compressed his throat at the moment, the bruising causing a great deal of pain on top of the broken bones. Loki's nonhuman status was the only thing keeping him alive right now as it seemed his magic wasn't doing a damned thing. The bones were knitting back together, but extremely slowly from Thor's past experience with his brother. The only good thing Loki had going for him, was the injuries hadn't affected his spine.

Machines were breathing for the trickster, and keeping his body fed and stable while he recovered. All Thor could do was sit in silent vigil, barely speaking to the medical personnel as they came by hourly to ensure everything was remaining the same.

And remained they did, for the two and a half days Thor had stayed by his brother's bed, growing just as exhausted as Loki still looked. It wasn't until almost seventy hours later did the other Avengers begin to step in to get Thor to sleep and eat.

That was over two weeks ago, and Steve trekked down into the infirmary in the early morning to find Thor passed out on the medical bed next to Loki's. While he might have stopped drinking, Thor hadn't actually improved in the almost two months since…

Steve sighed, rubbing at his face and leaning against the wall across from Loki, watching the unconscious Asgardian-

Or not.

Dark green eyes were glazed with pain, but locked on Steve in recognition. Steve's hand carefully checking the tube running from Loki's throat kept him from moving about, he might be in pain, but Loki was able to figure out enough.

"Figured you'd wake up after the drugs wore off, you managed to remain almost comatose for two weeks. The doctor isn't here right now, but I'll help if I can. Squeeze my hand, are you in pain?"

It was obvious by Loki wasn't amused, the glare angered and his fingers didn't twitch when Steve moved his hand. The super soldier nodded in understanding, and Loki eased up on the death look. His eyes darted around a bit, his brow furrowing in confusion but at least he knew not to speak or even attempt to.

"You're at the Avengers Compound, we brought you here almost three weeks ago, Thor's on the bed next to you sleeping-finally."

Loki rolled his eyes, cringing a bit at even that little motion, his chest hitched around the machine breathing for him.

"Try not to do that, your throat has healed up enough the tube can come out once Dr. Cho gets here in the morning, you might be on a different machine for a couple more days while the hole there right now heals, but so far everything has been healing well." Steve's explanation earned a slightly calmer look on Loki's face, but the god's eyes tracked back towards Thor before glancing at Steve.

"Want me to wake him up?"

This time Loki did squeeze the soldier's hand, letting go once Steve started to step away.

Thor was easy to wake, once conscious enough to hear his brother's name the Asgardian jerked upright almost too fast to stay standing. Steve would have smirked if it weren't for the sheer panic in Thor's gaze.

While still tired and not fully there, Thor was amazingly gentle as he stepped into his brother's limited line of sight, even propped up a bit, Loki was unable to see much unless directly in front of him with the neck brace.

"Brother…"

Steve had stepped back once Thor was moving, watching the pair carefully, he was a little surprised to hear the pain in Thor's tone, wavering with the tears likely clouding his eyes like Loki's were beginning to do. Thor's knuckles brushed his brother's cheek, the palm resting there with a tenderness not suspected in the fighter.

"By the Norns brother…I-you-how…"

At least Steve knew to remain quiet, and that no one else was there, he doubted Loki or really anyone would appreciate having someone-who once threatened to kill the other-see them just about lose it.

The God of Mischief was in tears, the moisture rolling down his cheeks into his hairline faster than Thor could carefully wipe away. His brother never commented, dropping his forehead to touch Loki's for a moment before pressing a gentle kiss to his temple.

Thor's attempt at a chuckle failed, choking spectacularly when he spoke, "You have got to stop this death thing brother, you are rather bad at it."

A faint grin broke up the look on Loki's face, but it was enough for Thor to settle down and be serious, "How bad?"

Steve almost asked Thor to clarify, until the fake expression on Loki's face was made obvious by his tight fist on the side Thor was not on.

"Loki…enough lies, how bad?"

Even expecting it, Thor still grunted when Loki's hand grabbed the blonde's, gripping hard enough both of them had white knuckles from the strength. Super soldier or no, Steve was leaning towards Loki hadn't wanted to break the human's hand.

"At ease Loki, let me help…" Thor's hand flexed once Loki let go, brushing the dark hair from Loki's temple, "Captain, could you notify a healer?"

Loki tensed a little as if he'd forgotten there was someone else, only relaxing when Steve moved back into his range of sight.

"FRIDAY, wake up Dr. Banner-"

"Loki!"

It took both men to keep the god from doing anything stupid, whatever he'd been trying to do thwarted by their grip and pain.

The panic in his eyes was enough, and while Thor would probably argue any other time, Loki's brother did understand enough to refuse Bruce. "Captain…"

Steve nodded, "Alright then, FRIDAY contact Dr. Cho, ask her to come in."

"_Right away Captain Rogers, ETA ninety minutes._"

Thor huffed, "There you go…just rest Loki, everything's fine."

Backing off, Steve watched the pair, Thor managing to get Loki settled and completely focusing on him, no longer glancing around like he expected the Hulk to burst through a wall. Which all things considered, he just might. Not that Steve could really blame him.

Low, gentle words never stopped coming from Thor's lips, pausing only when he'd moved a stool to sit on so he wasn't standing over his brother awkwardly. His hand never left Loki's, the other gesturing in vague directions in either explanation or just endless chatter.

Both of them managed almost an hour of this, but even with Thor as a distraction, Steve watched Loki's heart rate increase and start to interfere with the breathing machine. Loki was losing the battle against the pain.

It took Loki outright jerking on the bed, tensing up like he'd been tasered and his face pained for Steve to step forward again, carefully taking Loki's other hand and rubbing the tight fist.

"FRIDAY-"

"_Forty-three minutes Captain._"

Loki squeezed both Thor's and Steve's hands, eyes clenched shut before he tried to relax, being unable to control his own breathing probably wasn't helping and he only made it five more minutes before locking his gaze on Steve's. The urgency was enough, and Steve nodded in understanding. He looked to Thor to keep the other blonde quiet, but he didn't move his hand.

"FRIDAY wake Dr. Banner, tell him to come down."

"_Right away_."

Loki remained tense, and Steve wasn't sure if it was the pain or Dr. Banner's approach, but at least he didn't flinch when the green doctor arrived.

"Hey, how's it going?"

Steve followed Banner's movements, the doctor even more careful now with his size than he was when shorter and prone to anger issues. With the captain watching the Hulk, Loki's grip relaxed in Steve's hand, and made Bruce's job easier when he came back to the bed with medication.

"Alright Loki, I'm not going to fuss with that tube okay? I'm going to give you some meds to stop the pain and let you sleep. Dr. Cho will work on that later. It's okay if you sleep through that part, it will be really gross to be honest and not fun while they're putting in stitches, just get some rest. You're safe here."

Loki didn't move, just stared at Banner's hand when he passed the full syringe to Steve and made sure the captain inserted the drugs into the IV properly. Bruce turned to the machines relaying Loki's vitals, adjusting a few things while Steve watched Loki's eyes blink sluggishly before finally staying shut. Thor's loud huff of relief didn't come for a couple more minutes, but the God of Thunder did sit back a little after adjusting the blanket covering Loki to his waist.

"He's okay Thor."

Bruce earned himself a sharp glare, but Banner didn't even flinch, "He's _going_ to be okay, his throat is healing and he's only going to be intubated until the hole from the trach-tube is on its way to sealing up, a couple days max as long as he's breathing okay. The bones are mending slowly and nothing else is showing signs of issues."

"My brother was dead Banner…I watched him die…I felt his heart stop."

Steve sighed softly, "Take it easy Thor, take the win while you have it. He's here and alive, we can ask questions later."

Thor snorted, rubbing at his hairy face with a look of pessimism, but he did stand as if to return to a proper bed, "Later Captain? Time is not something I…nor any of us, have in habitual abundance."

Xxx

Xx

Xxx

Loki knew the minute he went from soothing black to fully awake, he still wouldn't be able to even attempt to speak. Or in this case even mouth any words. Not with gauze straps holding a tube braced down his throat and pulling at his lips.

Not that he really wanting to try producing any sound, his neck ached like no other and Loki was almost positive that's what had woken him from sleep, judging by the lack of irritating rushing in his veins the drugs to make him sleep had worn off.

Midgard was ever full of surprises…

And annoyances, Loki managed to blink his vision clear enough to see Thor still at his side, sitting at Loki's peripheral against the bed. The blonde looked terrible, at least in Loki's opinion; long hair grungy and unkempt, even worse was the thick beard that had taken over the lower half of Thor's face. If it wasn't for his innate sense of telling when he was or was not drugged, Loki would have thought he was hallucinating when Thor shifted on his stool and revealed the beer gut he now sported.

It made his brother glare, more from the obvious slumming his brother had slipped into since Sakaar and Ragnarök, than the pain beginning to cloud his thinking more than Loki would prefer.

Still, it took Loki outright slapping Thor's shoulder for the blonde to turn from his conversation with someone else Loki couldn't see, the Asgardian flinching before seeing his brother had regained consciousness.

"You're awake!"

Loki's eye roll could only be translated as a rather annoyed "_obviously_" and Thor grinned even wider, carefully reaching up to shift Loki's hair again before resting his hand over his brother's. Loki turned his hands, tapping a finger on Thor's wrist where a Midgardian watch rested.

"The doctors kept you asleep for another full day, the other breathing tube was removed and now you have this one. It is only for a few days they tell me, to ensure you are strong enough to go without." Thor's tone was smooth, even, belaying none of the weariness that drew lines on his face Loki hadn't seen before. And while the information was welcomed, Loki didn't stay still. Pulling his hand from Thor's, his brother's brow furrowed until the long fingers reached up to the blonde hair, grabbing a chunk and tugging.

Not very gently either…

"_Ow_…yes…uh…I'm trying a new look?"

Loki's glare was more than enough of a response, judging by Thor's pained expression.

"I have no excuse brother, I truly do not. I failed myself in allowing my mind and heart to harden and grow worn after fighting and killing Thanos. I failed our people…I let myself remain closed off and if it were not for Valkyrie they would not be as strong as they are today, a worthless king…"

Loki's fingers tightened over Thor's, but the blue eyes didn't look back up at the touch, "I failed you…I failed you brother…I could not protect you from Thanos or the Black Order…you very nearly _died_…because I was not here to find you, I was not anywhere that could give you aid."

That…was a concern, and Loki was careful when he moved his arm to guide Thor's gaze back to his, too far and he just knew there'd be more pain than he could handle. Loki tried to keep his eyes calm, wishing at that moment he could speak…Thor wasn't one to handle his failures with any level of intelligence.

Words might not be available to the God with the silver tongue, but Loki didn't need them when he finally got sky blue to meet emerald green. Thor's worn expression softened, not entirely, but enough to appease his brother for the moment.

"I know you will not let this go, and I will submit to your lectures at a later time. But for now…do I need to ask or will you just inform me?"

Loki both cursed and blessed Thor, internally of course as Thor would never let it go if he found out that while it was annoying and demeaning, Loki had always appreciated his brother's uncanny ability to know when the former was hiding pain from the healers.

While he would rather never admit weakness, Loki wasn't going to be able to handle it much longer, and Thor's hand was warm when it rested on Loki's forehead. The other was gripped tightly, Thor's thumb running light circles over the tense knuckles before his voice called to one of the doctors nearby.

For that part, Loki didn't pay attention, mostly content to let Thor handle this, at least until the hands that had been poking at him carefully, moved to touch the wrist Thor wasn't holding.

Once he'd focused on the doctor, Loki was subjected to a round of tests he honestly didn't remember seconds after completing the minimal tasks. Mostly he assumed tracking things with his eyes and flexing fingers and toes, that's what was common on Asgard at least. The pain was becoming less annoying and more debilitating, and Thor was well aware of it.

"Just a bit more brother…you can do it."

Loki flicked his gaze back to Thor, trying to gain the strength from his brother's steadfast demeanor, but it wasn't easy. While he'd allowed America's captain to witness a bit of his own weakness, Loki refused to show anyone else, not if he was able to control it. But Loki was quickly losing control.

The woman doctor regained Loki's focus, a steady visage on her olive-toned face, "One last question, while you need to be intubated to breathe for approximately 60 hours still, I can ease the discomfort so you do not fight the tube and machine. I can put you completely under to sleep while we wait for your trachea to heal, or I can dull the feeling and pain. You would be awake, but I do not believe you would be fully coherent, with your physiology there will likely be difficulty staying focused and possible mild side effects."

Glancing to Thor, Loki didn't immediately respond, wishing again he could say…_anything_…

His brother nodded in understanding, reaching behind to pull a pad of paper and a pen. "Doctor if you will give us a moment?"

She nodded, Loki so that much out of the corner of his eyes before she stepped too far away, "Of course."

Thor hummed softly, "Here brother."

Loki had to take a minute to remember how to use his hand, flexing the cramping fingers from how tightly he'd held his fist even with Thor's fingers in the way.

…_do NOT drug me_…

"It is either the drugs or you will be in pain, brother I cannot guarantee you are strong enough to wait, nearly three days is too long."

…_NO_…

"Loki-" Thor sighed loudly, rubbing at his face in weariness, "Please, pick one…I know you do not care for such medicines, you never have. But you know sleep will help you heal, do that if you will not allow the other, I know you do not wish to lose use of your mind."

There. Thor knew more than he let on, and Loki _hated_ it. He'd lost control of his own mind once, and Loki would be thrice damned to Helheim before he'd allow it again. To be strung out on drugs, on Midgard…with the Avengers a few walls away…that wouldn't do at all.

"Loki…"

The eye roll was more habitual than a response, but Loki let Thor replace the pad beneath his hand again. This time he made Thor wait for a response, faintly delighting in the confusion that crossed his face.

…_I will sleep, YOU will clean that mess off your face_…

Chuckling, this time the deep, rolling one that was akin to distant thunder, Thor let a smirk cross his concerned face. "Mess? Do you not think I look roguishly dashing brother?"

Loki didn't need to write a response, his glare was enough to earn a wide grin from Thor.

Shaking his head, the blonde sighed with a hint of bemusement as he waved for the doctor, "Very well, you will get some sleep, and I will go clean up a bit-"

…_ALL of it!._..

"Loki-"

…_NOW_…

The doctor returned while Thor had to choke back a laugh so he didn't startle Loki further, smiling wider while the woman worked, "I will be here when you wake, and while you sleep for that matter, just focus on healing alright?"

If it weren't for the neck brace keeping him still, even with the tube in his mouth Loki would have attempted to nod, feeling the drug in his veins beginning to ease the pain. Thor understood anyway, standing so he could lean down and press his forehead to Loki's for a moment, voice low and only for the other on the bed.

"Rest brother, I am by your side, I swear it."

Loki bent his arm up to let his fingers clasp Thor's again, squeezing as long as he could until the drug made it too difficult to maintain a grip. Before going completely under, even with his eyes closed Loki could tell Thor was keeping his word-in part, the hands trained to fight and kill and rule were soft on Loki's wrists as it guided them under the blankets, smoothing the covers to keep Loki warm.

Thor's faint kiss brushed his temple again, and Loki's last coherent thought was of the blonde's beard being immensely scratchy.

* * *

**Tada?**

**Review please?**

**Note: I researched tracheaostomy and intubation as thoroughly as I could, yes I know it's probably a bit messed up, but I did my best. I anyone can help me fix it please do! I would really appreciate it. Also, as for Barnes putting the tube "lower", if there's too much damage or blockage or swelling, the tracheaostomy has to go in a really awkward tight spot beneath the thyroid isthmus-isthmus thyroid? Something like that...plus...Loki's not human...heh...so tada? With my horrible medical attempts...**


	3. Chapter 3

_**ENDGAME SPOILERS!**_

_**YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**_

* * *

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! If I did, Tony would be yelling at me.**

**Summary: The scales are unbalanced, they have been for a very long time. And someone is getting pissed off that this keeps happening. So she decides to set things right. Very unconventionally...the Universe is not ready for this...no one is. Undying is a worse fate than torture, making you long for the sweet pain of death.**

**Review Please!**

**To _Ill elemental, elisse1998, emiliarose357, TheLastoftheRealOnes, Befujimoto, Sitalia, butterflydreams04, BenevolentCupboardhatch, Muggleslayer, Sia Riddle Li, SuperWhoAvengerChanceryLock: _Thank you all so much for the Faves and Follows!**

**To Guest: Next button ho! Aww thank you!**

* * *

**Chapter Three  
**

_**Note: Here's my AU BIG note, Steve returns the Stones to their proper times, but does NOT spend a life with Peggy. I really did not like that plot twist at all, but here's to make things perfectly clear. Steve does NOT go and live with Peggy. Stones returned, Steve returned, same age.  
**_

Xxx

_Years Ago_

Xxx

The union wasn't an official marriage, not in the eyes of the court nobles. Neither of them cared, just being together was enough. At the end of the day, her red-gold tresses would be laid out on the silk pillows in soft waves that shone in the moonlight on green and gold covers. His black hair would be wild and covering angled cheeks that were softened in slumber, strong arms holding her close like a cherished rose.

She was the light that shone in his devious darkness, and he was the cunning that fueled her cutting tongue. The silver tongue at the mercy of the knife tongue. They were young when they met, and young when shy love turned into fiery passion.

Passion…that in hindsight…was a bit immature.

They struggled to keep decorum and protocol within the right bounds, while remaining truly faithful to one another…his ignorance-a mistake rapidly rectified-cost them dearly.

A slip of the wrist, a potion in a drink…and a century old friendship was cast aside by a horrible wrong doing. While the children-out of wedlock and court ignored-were a blessing…the ties they created were a burden he could have done without.

Angrboda hated her, and ensured he was well aware of that fact for decades. The children she bore from the Prince were cast aside as was expected, but the fact she had lain with the Prince was enough to stir the courts into gossiping frenzies. A consort and a mistress…

But like many things, youth was fleeting, and something better took Angrboda's focus, and left the pair to themselves. The coronation of the elder Prince was supposed to be the next step, for all of them. With the elder in power, it left room for the younger to continue with his consort and make her an official lady. That had been the plan three months before the coronation, the ceremony itself had to be postponed after a rampant illness swept the realm, quick but devastating and many succumbed to the sickness. A coronation might have been a tad ill-timed, but the rushed ceremony was a welcomed distraction…

Well…distraction is one word, disastrous was another.

Falling from the Bifrost, vanishing for over a year, and then a botched attempt at conquering Midgard…that was not the way to regain a good standing within Asgard's nobility.

She wasn't even allowed within the palace, not even to wait in an antechamber or private quarters while the trial took place. He was locked within a dungeon cell and barred from visitors before she even knew he had returned to Asgard in the first place.

There was no contact between them, not from the evening prior to the coronation until a fleeting glance on her part as the pair of princes left the outdoor amphitheatre. She saw him, but it was doubtful he realized she had been among the audience that afternoon.

That was the last.

Xxx

_June 27th, 2023_

_10:00am_

Xxx

This time, waking was a long process, muddled by drugs and exhaustion that still clouded his mind. Several times he resurfaced from deep black to hear snippets of conversations but nothing concrete. By the time Loki managed to swim back to consciousness, the heavy weight of his limbs was enough to say he'd been out for at least a full day, very likely more if the woman doctor was to be believed.

For a while he was only halfway awake, stirred from a groggy haze periodically by the medical staff either checking him over or a noise being louder than the lull of sleep. It took a sharp growl, a noise so familiar Loki could literally recognize it in his sleep.

"For the last time, you will _not_ wake him!"

"Oh please!" Valkyrie's tone was snide and sharp, arguing with Thor with a bit more heat than probably necessary but anything involving her had to include either sarcasm or disrespect. "Like I actually want to talk with your cad of a brother. I'm just here to drop this thing off like Brilid asked me to. You can deliver the news for all I care-"

Thor growled again, "This is not something you just get to drop and wander away to drink to forget. Not this!"

"So why don't you take care of it?"

"Valkyrie!"

She snorted, loudly, and Loki managed to fight his eyes open to blink in the morning light and try to find the pair. He'd been shifted, propped up a bit more and a different neck brace was strapped on, one that just held his head in position instead of almost entirely immobilizing his shoulders.

At least Thor had complied with Loki's deal, cutting the beard to a close cut like he usually wore. His hair was still long, but it was trimmed and cleaned, pulled back in familiar side braids to keep it from his face. Still, he wasn't backing down when Valkyrie pressed closer with whatever they were arguing about.

"Look…you do not welcome me here, I don't _want_ to be here, and your brother who is now awake will likely agree. Just take the damn thing and let me go. Since you insist on leaving me regent for whatever thrice damned reason, I actually have work to do your _majesty_."

Thor spun around, a relieved grin stretching his face when he met Loki's gaze, but the look faded when Valkyrie tried to leave again, getting stopped by the God of Thunder grabbing her arm. "Don't you dare."

The growl came from the warrior this time, but she complied, following Thor sullenly to Loki's bedside. He didn't watch her, not as Thor came to the other side of the bed and caught his brother's hand gently.

"You look better brother, the doctor wanted you to be awake before she removed the last tube, but she says you are doing well. She will be back soon, there are other patients she is attending.

Loki squeezed Thor's hand in understanding, glancing to Valkyrie next when the blonde had nothing else to report.

She rolled her eyes, but did jerk her chin a little as a sign of respect. "For such a conniving trickster…glad you're not dead."

Given that she had served Asgardian royalty for decades, she knew enough to read Loki's faint glare of agreement, the smirk constrained by the straps on his jaw and mouth.

Valkyrie sighed, rubbing a hand over her face before she pulled something out of her pocket, keeping it hidden in her fist when she went on, "Brilid was not in a good mood before she sent me here, told me to inform you that if you even thought about messing with the shadow realms of Death again, she would personally remove your ability to-"

Loki cut her off, trying to chuckle and ending up coughing as he tried to exhale around the tube pumping air into his lungs. The struggle almost sounded like a dry gargle, a tad painful and annoying, but it was almost on time as the woman doctor appeared next to Thor.

"I'll take that as my cue," She set a tray of tools down next to Loki's bed, adjusting the breathing machine with a few buttons, "If you can so easily fight it, you are more than ready to have that tube out. This is not going to be comfortable, and you will likely need the oxygen mask for a while after. But let's get you breathing on your own shall we?"

He almost tried to nod, even with the brace and tube, but Loki held still as she cut the gaze and undid the mouth piece. The tug of the tube coming up and out was a cross between throwing up and having wind blowing right down his throat, and Loki did choke as it reached the back of his mouth and the blast of air almost made him gag. Coughing hurt like hell, and he honestly didn't realize Thor was talking until after yet another thing was placed over his mouth to help him breathe.

While obnoxious and just one more obstacle in all of this, Loki did clasp a hand over the mask tightly, not even caring that he was holding it alongside the doctor as he struggled to breathe without mechanical aid. It took several minutes for Loki to calm down, gasping painfully as he struggled to convince himself he was getting enough air even with the ache encompassing his very core.

"Not the worst reaction I've seen, but Romanoff has you beat."

The doctor's quip earned a pained glare, but she smiled in return as Loki settled finally. "I'm going to prep a few things, and let you rest for a moment. Do _not_ try to speak just yet. Your larynx and trachea was severely bruised and I will not allow you to stress anything."

Loki waved his hand in a brief acknowledgement, more focused on reminding himself how to breathe without something doing it for him.

Thor's hand on his shoulder drew his focus at last, his brother having waited until Loki was much calmer and willing to listen.

"Loki…Brilid sends news," Thor's tone told much further than his words, and Loki's eyes narrowed in confusion as he fought not to ask what was going on.

Brilid had been Queen Frigga's lead handmaiden in her own youth, having been assigned to the young queen shortly after her marriage to Odin. She'd seen Frigga through court introductions and political handlings for centuries, before retiring from court for her own life within Asgard's outer city. Until Frigga had called for her services once more, introducing her to a budding mage, a young child-prince…Loki had grown up learning magic from Frigga when she had time, and practicing with Brilid until he'd surpassed her knowledge of how to safely ensure his practicing was within bounds. Then Frigga had moved him on to someone else. While he'd grown out of her limits, Brilid had always remained close to Loki, and he'd turned to her both in and out of disguises over the years for aid.

Valkyrie cleared her throat, drawing Loki's attention again, her closed fist lowered to Loki's, pressing something cold and metallic into his palm with a low sigh. Her tone was practiced sincerity, the seriousness out of character for the warrior and all that more dire, "My deepest apologies for bringing you this news my prince, but I am tasked pass on Brilid's expression of solemn condolences."

Her stepping back was enough for Loki to lift his hand, letting the chain twine with his fingers while the objects hooked on the necklace clinked together as they fell from his palm. The rings were simple, one a solid rose-gold band, inscribed with a snake crest entwined on the interior. The other, was a braided twist of tiny vines, the leaves at the crest forming a rose of white gold amidst the rose gold.

"Loki…" Thor's soft voice drew his brother's eyes away from the rings, Loki's hand was shaking as Thor gently took it within his own, "Brother I'm so sorry…Sigyn…she did not…"

Loki couldn't. He couldn't listen to anything more, somewhere Loki heard Thor finish his statement. But the rest of his thinking was torn apart, the sob tore from his throat before he could stop it, and where one left more soon followed far beyond his control.

The pain in his neck and head were miniscule to what took over, and Loki was for once overly grateful Thor was such a softie. His brother must have dismissed Valkyrie, her hand brushing Loki's arm briefly before leaving. Thor was the one to take Loki into his arms, careful to steady his spine and keep the neck brace secure, but Loki found his head tucked under Thor's chin, the broad arms wrapped around his shoulders while Loki himself screamed into the oxygen mask.

He felt regret…the pangs mixed with guilt that ate at his stomach and made breathing a choking struggle to fight the wrenching sobs tearing out behind his cries. Somewhere…distantly, Loki was aware one of the Avengers had come to check on them, probably called by the doctor whose name Loki still didn't know. He didn't care, he couldn't, not past the bone deep ache that gnawed at his heart he thought hardened too far to feel the pain.

Thor was speaking, murmuring something endlessly that Loki just couldn't stop screaming long enough to understand. The low hum in his chest was enough though, and Loki clung to the dark hoodie Thor wore to ground himself. Oxygen pumping in his mask stopped him from choking, but Loki had only a fleeting moment through the raw pain that he might not get to relish the freedom he'd just been given, not with how badly he hurt.

But he just wasn't able to _stop_…

Xxx

Thor was the one who had to choke back his own tears, hugging Loki to his chest tighter as he visibly struggled to keep at least some level of calm for his brother. While Loki was caught in his grief, Thor fought to remain steadfast. Barton kept a hand on Thor's shoulder in silent support, not speaking and risk disturbing the brothers any further than his presence required. Dr. Cho had called for aid when Loki had broken down, not sure how to handle both Asgardians and wanting assistance.

Clint had sent her away for the time being, remaining with Thor while Loki reacted to the news. While Clint hadn't fully understood what was going on when he'd been asked to come in, it only took listening to Thor for two minutes to get the idea. That and Loki's hand was still tangled in the necklace holding a pair of wedding rings, unused wedding rings.

He didn't like Loki, Barton would gladly admit that out loud and in public if he had to, but the archer wasn't heartless. Losing a spouse…that was unimaginable. Especially since he understood.

Sympathy for the devil was a hard thing to earn, and yet Clint was the one stepping around the hospital bed to adjust the oxygen mask so Loki could breathe past his pained crying. The God of Mischief didn't notice, nor did he even realize Barton was giving him a sedative. Loki's sobs died down as the drug worked in, the frantic breathing slowing to exhausted rasps.

Credit was due, at least in part, Loki fought the sedative for a lot longer than Clint suspected, clinging to Thor with his fading strength until he just couldn't fight the pain and drag of sleep anymore.

Thor was the one to tell Loki was gone, sighing shakily before accepting Barton's aid in getting Loki laying down properly again. The God of Thunder looked absolutely wrecked.

Once he'd stepped back from the bed, Thor almost collapsed into the chair still in place from his long hours of bedside vigil. Clint simply waited, checking Loki's vitals in case he needed Dr. Cho to come back in.

"I wish…I…" Thor groaned low in his throat, and hand covering his eyes in weariness, "That was immensely harder than I expected."

"Bad news is the worst to give, believe me." Barton sighed himself, looking to the blonde in sympathy, "I get it Thor, I do…your brother is an ass, but losing his…fiancée? Right? I know how that hurts."

A low grunt was his response, and Barton huffed quietly, "How did it happen?"

"Hela…I was told later on the Sakaarian vessel the Statesman that my sister had slaughtered the entire noble court on Asgard after she had decimated the Einherjar. Sigyn would have been among the ladies taking shelter in the palace during the attack."

Wincing, Barton sighed again, looking to Loki's tear-streaked face that was lax in medicated sleep, "Damn…"

Thor snorted, "Indeed."

Clint shifted on his feet, reaching forward to adjust the oxygen mask for whatever reason of concern he had going for Loki at the moment. Thor didn't miss the action, but he didn't comment either, watching silently before keeping his gaze on his brother.

"I don't like him Thor, but…" Clint growled, his hand trailing over Loki's and tucking the pair of rings into the god's palm carefully, "When he wakes up…if he'll hear it. I am sorry he lost her."

Thor nodded, clasping Clint's hand in parting, "I shall tell him, if he will speak of it. I doubt Loki will allow himself to grieve, he is never one for sharing his emotions."

"I can see that." Clint comment wryly, snorting a little in disbelief.

"You must understand Barton," Thor's tone grew hard, defensive, "Loki and I…we lost our mother in battle a few years ago, our father and our home…to Loki that occurred a mere month prior…with the way he is acting I do not believe he has realized the expanse of time that has passed. To wake in such pain and weak…and to learn of Sigyn's passing…I expected far worse in all honesty. Yet, now that he has initially reacted…nothing will get my brother to show anything further."

"That's not healthy." The words came out before Clint could stop them, and he winced reflexively, trying to show he regretted them when Thor turned in his chair, "I mean, holding all that back…not a good idea big guy…"

Instead of being mad, Thor just chuckled darkly, "As if we…any of the Avengers, myself included, have room to speak of this. I became a drunken scum for years, while you murdered any human monster across the globe. If anything I would say some of us are worse than Loki when it comes to such things. Loki at least moves on, pretending all he likes, but he will move forward."

Clint scoffed, "It's not moving forward if you're not letting go."

"No, it is not," Thor acquiesced, "Nor is it letting go when there is nothing left to hold on to."

* * *

**Tada?**

**Review please?**


	4. Chapter 4

_**ENDGAME SPOILERS!**_

_**YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**_

* * *

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! If I did, Tony would be yelling at me.**

**Summary: The scales are unbalanced, they have been for a very long time. And someone is getting pissed off that this keeps happening. So she decides to set things right. Very unconventionally...the Universe is not ready for this...no one is. Undying is a worse fate than torture, making you long for the sweet pain of death.**

**Review Please!**

**To _Luna-and-Artemis, oasis1314, Eslpeth Regis: _Thank you all so much for the Faves and Follows!**

**To Guest: Thank you so much! Yeah...I've been neglecting those and a few other stories...too many ideas, not enough time...**

* * *

**Chapter Four  
**

_**Note: Here's my AU BIG note, Steve returns the Stones to their proper times, but does NOT spend a life with Peggy. I really did not like that plot twist at all, but here's to make things perfectly clear. Steve does NOT go and live with Peggy. Stones returned, Steve returned, same age.  
**_

Xxx

_June 30th, 2023_

Xxx

Thor had been present in the infirmary when Dr. Cho had tested Loki's voice, asking for dull repetitions of various words to produce a myriad of sounds. While hoarse, soft, and nowhere near as commanding as Loki was capable of, Thor was pleased not once did Loki stutter.

If any lasting effect had come of the grievous injury, especially if Loki's voice had been damaged, Thor had suspected there would be no end to Loki's wrath.

That being said, after being cleared by the doctor to start talking in small increments for a few days and easing into regular conversations, Loki had done the opposite.

Meaning while his brother was used to the silent treatments Loki could come up with if angered, it usually resulted in a prank and a continuance of the way things were prior to the annoyance.

Silence because Loki flat out refused to say a word…that was new, and not amusing at all.

At least Loki was allowed up and out of bed periodically, though he was stuck in a neck brace for quite a while. The bones in his neck were healing faster than a human, but not as fast as an Asgardian. For whatever reason, both Thor and Loki suspected it was tied to the latter's nearly complete lack of magic. Neither of them were amused by this.

It did leave a tense atmosphere whenever Thor joined Loki to spend time with him, attempting to engage in conversation, verbal or written, but nothing seemed to stir Loki from his internal solitude. Thor wasn't sure if was due to Loki grieving, or something else. He'd never been great at reading Loki when it came to emotional turmoil, a horrible downfall of his that had caused years of strife between the two.

Now, it just made him frustrated, and Thor abruptly decided to not join Loki for breakfast, instead retreating to the section of the gym modified for the God of Thunder and Captain Rogers, and in turn Barnes as the three of them were able to outclass the other Avengers with weights. Losing himself in the dull burn of a solid workout, Thor didn't even register the intercom call from FRIDAY that the morning meal was being served. Well, not at first…

Xxx

Wanda Maximoff was happy to be alive, don't get her wrong. But she was grieving at the gift of life in turn. When Pietro had died in the Battle of Sokovia, she had thought that pain would never fade. While it hadn't vanished, the ache had settled into something she could endure and learn to grow with, especially once her and Vision became closer.

Losing Vision…in the battle that took her life, had been a pain sweetened by death for what felt like moments, only to wake in the Wakandan forest edge five years later with Sergeant Barnes reaching to help her up and pull her back into the fight.

Now, she grieved in silence, sometimes catching the worn gaze of a friend also in pain, but otherwise keeping it to herself unless she just couldn't take it anymore. There was a reason the Avengers Compound had multiple underground bunkers, it allowed Wanda retreat to one to break and throw things with her powers instead of possibly hurting someone in the main gym.

Today was not one of the bad days, this morning Wanda woke to her set alarm music playing softly. While Wanda dressed casually, FRIDAY delivered the time and weather forecast for the day, before relaying who was in the common room and if anyone had started breakfast.

Since Loki's arrival, it was usually Steve or Rhodey who started food, one of them taking plates to the two Asgardians in the infirmary. Two days ago when Thor's brother had been allowed to leave the infirmary for brief periods, most of them had waited to see if Thor could convince his brother to come out. When that didn't happen, it became almost a betting pool to see how long it would take for things to go south.

Sam was the one making breakfast this morning, FRIDAY announced, and Wanda made a split decision like someone had made for her shortly after she'd moved into the Compound.

Xxx

Loki wasn't paying attention, at all, staring at the ceiling of the infirmary as he tried to will himself back to sleep. While part of him ached, a bit from hunger, but mostly pain that just wouldn't go away until he'd fully heal, he had no desire to rectify either. Not when he couldn't even convince himself to speak.

Which, in hindsight, was rather stupid and weak of him to do, for all the good his silver tongue was when there were no words to say.

At least the majority of those around him had decided not to take it upon themselves to force Loki to do otherwise, instead letting him be, wallowing in his self-made misery and his thoughts.

"Loki?"

That made him turn, the red-headed woman standing at the end of his bed had legitimately snuck up on him. Or Loki really hadn't noticed her arrival, both were very plausible given the circumstances.

She stood with open confidence, but not arrogance, from Thor's tales she was the one who had been gifted with magic via experiments with the Mind Stone years ago. She knew she was powerful, but wasn't flaunting it.

When he didn't respond, she let a polite grin slip on her face, "Would you like to join us for breakfast? I know the neck brace isn't the most comfortable thing, but there will be food easy to swallow."

Loki still didn't respond, watching her with an intensity most squirmed under, the red-head did fidget a little, her crossed arms flexing subconsciously but she wasn't scared. That's what confused Loki, her honest concern that was more than just basic politeness.

She didn't leave him room to think too long, shifting to the side and holding out a hand, "Will you join me? Please?"

If the woman was aware of how powerful words could be, Loki didn't know, he did however agree. And carefully tried to sit up without causing himself too much pain in the process.

Her hand was there to help, never touching, but an open offer. One Loki took to steady himself upright; once on his feet she let go, stepping back to give him space. Loki welcomed it, at least for a short while until it became clear he wasn't steady enough on his feet. Again, her arm was offered, but it was a subtle shift instead of a blatant movement, and Loki appreciated her discretion, looping his arm with hers for support without making it obvious to anyone who saw.

Judging by a few staff members greeting the woman, her name was Wanda, and Loki let her lead him deeper into the compound without a word.

She didn't press, only speaking softly to direct him around a corner instead of pushing him in the right direction. Once out of the halls and in a large common area, Loki was minutely grateful for his shakiness from being unsteady. It hid the shaking that started when he saw the other Avengers. Some of them.

Barton and Barnes were setting the table, a few places set on the huge kitchen island nearby for space. Dr. Banner was missing as was Thor, but Rogers was assisting another man Loki assumed was Wilson from Thor's descriptions. The darker toned man would have been questionable to the other, if Thor hadn't explained of the Colonel Rhodes leg braces.

Another pair of men were playing a video game, both loud and obnoxious and that was observed in the five seconds it took Wanda and Loki to enter the room fully. He couldn't determine their identities, but Drax, Tree, and Rabbit were rather obvious, as was Bug-Lady, all watching the ongoing game proceedings. Loki highly suspected Thor just didn't actually know their names properly.

One absence that did give Loki pause was the Man of Iron, and it took his pained mind a moment to put all the pieces together.

That didn't quite matter at the moment, Wanda's arrival hadn't garnered anyone's focus and luckily it remained that was even with Loki almost hobbling alongside her. Until another arm linked with Loki, someone taller adding their assistance to his uneven gait.

While Loki wasn't thrilled to see the doctor from Bleecker street, the man was steady enough Loki wasn't about to fall over. Dr. Strange didn't say a word, giving silent support until the awkward trio had made it to the island and taller chairs. Wanda backed off, giving Loki room to ease onto the chair with little bending to avoid aggravating his neck. While she moved to assist the others in meal preparation, Dr. Strange waited until Loki was stable, a hand on the god's back to steady him.

Rogers setting bowls of fruits and nuts and various things on the island was enough for Loki to at least pretend he had a reason to be there, taking the offered bowl of hot oatmeal with silent gratitude. The captain didn't press for any words, nor did anyone else, moving about the island to fix their own bowls and plates. While Loki added things to his meal, Strange did the same before taking a seat nearby, not close enough to bother but Loki knew when he was being watching. And heavily at that, the hushed whispers from a couple others were enough to set him on edge, but Loki kept focused on the food, and not spilling since moved his head was almost impossible.

As was the throb of pain that lit up the back of Loki's skill, radiating down his spine with a knife.

The utter relief at having the brace suddenly loosened and eased away, that was enough to combat the pain. Colonel Rhodes was the one taking it off, a heavy hand holding Loki in place while he did so. The god didn't need to turn to see Banner's green fingers steadying him.

"You've got about ten minutes, I don't want it off any longer than that Loki, but it will be easier to eat."

Loki jerked his chin in a nod, not daring to move more than that, but being able to slump over his bowl was definitely more comfortable than hovering awkwardly. The hunched position ached, but then again everything still hurt since he'd woken up on Midgard in the first place and Loki was more than ready to return to bed once done eating.

With Banner in the room, the soft conversations at the table rose in volume, but other than Wanda taking a seat a couple chairs down from Loki at the island, they stayed settled. A couple times someone tried to either engage Loki in their talk, or left a statement open ended enough he should have interjected. He responded to neither, enjoying the freedom of nothing on his neck for the first time in weeks. The stiff flex of his shoulders didn't aggravate it as much, trying to roll it hurt like hell and made him cringe.

One movement made Loki hiss, tensing up as he waited out the throbbing to move again and found he'd bent the metal spoon in his hand to keep from squirming.

"Do I need to throw you into a depth dimension again?"

Loki turned, painfully, but he glared nonetheless at the doctor, "Do…do you really think…I am capable of anything _threatening_…like this?"

He made it about three more minutes, that's how long Loki managed to fight before the pain cut through the relief and sent him hissing for air. One hand kept him from toppling over, the other went to his neck until a cord of energy grabbed his wrist and held it away from the bones beneath the skin.

"Don't. Dr. Banner-"

Strange's gloved hands were on him again, and Loki winced reflexively when they gently eased his head upright, the thumbs brushing the back of the god's neck with care.

"Sorry Loki…you can't risk any pieces breaking or moving."

"I know-" Loki hissed, hands clenching onto the counter edge while Wanda assisted in buckling the neck brace on again, the stiff device was a welcomed boon though, it meant Loki no longer had to actively hold his head still.

"You'd think bones would heal faster being a god an all?"

Loki groaned, eyes remaining shut even after the others had finished and backed off, "That requires magic Banner…and mine has managed to disappear."

"Ah so you had noticed that as well." Dr. Strange's tone suggested he wasn't actually new to this information, but anyone who had either encountered Loki before in terms of powers or had an affinity to magic itself could tell. Loki's bucket was nearly bone dry.

"It has been that way since I arrived."

Barnes stepped around the island, "How did you manage that anyway?"

The sergeant's question earned a faint shrug, and Loki went back to fussing with his food. "If I had such knowledge Sergeant Barnes I would divulge it, instead I am left remembering Thanos attacking the Statesman and then waking up unable to breathe and stuck in the Void."

"You mean Valhalla."

"No," Loki sighed, "I mean the Void-no afterlife, I have no idea how I ended up in there, but I woke up in pain and suffocating before being thrown back to Midgard."

"That sounds painful." Banner quipped.

Loki ignored him, fiddling with the cuff of his sleeve before just pulling the offending thing out. The chain and rings shone in the light, but he tried to ignore them sitting there.

"Those are beautiful."

Wanda's quiet tone was enough to pull Loki from his thoughts again, glancing at her as she stared at the jewelry with admiration. Something made the god carefully slide his fingers over the rings, pushing them in her direction until she leaned over enough to take the offer.

Her fingers were amazingly gentle, delicately turning the metal in the light to look over the designs, "They are truly lovely, in the simplicity and complexity in both."

"Thank you…I…" Loki trailed off, fighting to clear his throat before settling for looking away from the rings and their memories, "They were crafted in Asgard, by some of the Allmother's finest metalsmiths."

"Have you ever worn this one?"

That question gave Loki pause, and he had to visibly compose himself before responding, "I…yes…I tried it on once the pair was complete, but I have not since. It was not allowed at Thor's fiasco of a coronation."

"Which, if you recall Loki was almost entirely your fault."

Loki smirked a bit, glancing at Thor finally appearing in gym clothes and looking rather frazzled from his workout, his brother was more out of shape than he'd realized, "What was your first clue? The attack on the vault? Or Odin's temper tantrum that followed? Or your idiotic vendetta against-"

Thor's hand covered Loki's mouth, gently, but the sentiment was there. Loki just didn't care to put in the effort to bite his brother like he'd done in the past to get him to stop being annoying.

"Still Loki, I agree with Miss Maximoff, those rings were a very fine choice."

"Indeed," Loki huffed, going back to his meal, "You may try it on if you so wish."

Wanda's blush was visible even out of the corner of his eye, but Loki saw the interest if she wouldn't admit it. Her fingers were still exceptionally careful as she slid the smaller of the two rings free from the chain. While Loki had purposefully looked away, her examination of the jewelry once more drew his eyes. She'd taken care, the ring sat on the index finger of her right hand, being as respectful as she could with turning her hand to catch the light.

Miss Maximoff grinned giddily, easing the ring off and passing it to Thor when he held a hand out after. His grin was of fond memories, a low hum in his throat as he looked over the craftmanship while caught in times years ago.

The smile never left, and Loki found the urge to take the other ring and look it over for a moment, habit encouraging him to slide the metal onto his finger like any other.

Two things happened, or well three…

First, Loki and Thor touched the rings at the same time, Loki's sliding on his ring finger like it had years ago, and Thor closing the other in his hand for a fleeting moment.

Second, Thor dropped, passed out cold still clutching the ring in his fist, much to the alarm of the others if their fading shouting was anything to go by. Loki knew they were fading because he found himself falling-both figuratively into black…and literally as he toppled and was caught by Dr. Strange before Loki could hit the ground.

And third…Odin made a big mistake.

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**Tada?**

**Review please?**


	5. Chapter 5

_**ENDGAME SPOILERS!**_

_**YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**_

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**Disclaimer: I own nothing! If I did, Tony would be yelling at me.**

**Summary: The scales are unbalanced, they have been for a very long time. And someone is getting pissed off that this keeps happening. So she decides to set things right. Very unconventionally...the Universe is not ready for this...no one is. Undying is a worse fate than torture, making you long for the sweet pain of death.**

**Review Please!**

**To _GracieLoo14, BlueFire98, SA Jedi DC of Marvel: _Thank you all so much for the Faves and Follows!**

**To Guest: Nice twist? Bad twist? Thank you!  
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**To Guest: Thanking you saying next button as there's now two of you...I'm pounding away! I'm going to feed this muse as long as I can and reviews definitely help so thank you so much! Enjoy!**

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**Chapter Five**

Xxx

_Asgard_

Xxx

"I told you, and yet here you are yet again."

He growled, but continued on, trekking deeper into the temple of the Oracle. She stayed cloaked in her shadows, cast by curtains that concealed her from the light of the high windows. Ever mysterious, ever hidden.

"Your tales were accurate, but to a fault, you did not tell me I would lose-"

"_BORSON_!"

Her howl echoed in the dim hall of her abode, and the grey wisps of her robes were buffeted in the wind her cries elicited.

Odin grimaced, kneeling before her as the Oracle stepped closer, a hiss in her throat as she spoke again, "You came to me. Odin son of Bor, you came to _me_, when you brought to Asgard a stolen relic of a people who were already sentenced to death. Bringing the crown prince of Jotunheim home as a _war trophy_, you came to _me_-"

"To ask if my choice was valid! If it would bring peace between Asgard and Jotunheim!"

"And I_ told_ you!" The Oracle howled yet again, bearing down on the one-eyed king with the wrath of someone much older than time itself, "Do not deny the prince!"

"Deny?" Odin forced himself to look up, jerking to his feet on the next word, "_Deny_?! I have denied my son _nothing_!"

"Luxuries are not admittance! Who is he Borson?"

"I-"

"Who is he?!" She screamed, lunging forward just enough that Odin took a step back, "You call him your son, and yet does he know? I told you Odin!"

This time he couldn't look up, staring at the floor and eventually having to close his eyes as her voice resonated to the Allfather's very core.

"I told you, do not deny the prince-who he is, who he will come to be. I told you, for there to be peace between the realms there must be no lies. Deny the prince and his wrath will destroy everything you hold dear."

That earned another growl, and Odin managed to look up at her hooded face, "You told me the begotten children of the second prince, would bring about destruction with the birth of four! That the daughter would destroy us all! You did not tell me when, but Angrboda has delivered a second son! Hela grows stronger in magic by the day and with Jormungandr's birth-"

The Oracle hissed, stepping away as Odin paced around her dais, the curtains fluttered innocuously, and had the Allfather been intuitive to the arts of prophecy like his wife, he'd have heard the whispers of time within the cloths, "I told you, deny the price and his wrath-"

"I know! Will destroy everything I hold dear! I do not deny my son, he is mine, he is Frigga's, those children…they cannot bring about such destruction-"

"…_Deny the second prince and his wrath will destroy all you hold dear. The daughter of the gods will call forth Ragnarök at her father's bidding with the coming of the fourth babe. Peace within the ice shall remain, if the fires of lies stoke the rage. Align the stars and bring unity among Yggdrasil's reach, Winter shall fall upon your firstborn and steal his final breaths, and the snake will entwine with the giant to bring Death to her coming_…"

Odin growled again, "You have told me this-"

"And you do not listen!"

The Allfather turned away, ignoring the rushing wind that buffeted his armor and clothing, "I will end this as I see fit! If you have nothing of value to contribute to the good of Asgard or the Nine Realms then I bid you good day-"

"Odin Borson do not change fate!"

That made him pause, and Odin looked back to the grey robes, two dark eyes glowing straight into his one as they saw past the time before the king.

"Do not do what you are about to cause, you will only dig deeper wounds time will not be able to heal if you continue."

Pause, that's all Odin did, his conscience did not waver as he left the temple, the Oracle hissed after him, howling his name in anger.

"Deny the prince and you will fall Odin son of Bor! Do not change fate!"

Xxx

Brilid's shop was dark, customers and patrons long since gone home with the coming night, but Odin didn't care, stepping inside and waiting until the minor mage noted his presence. He gave her a few moments, it was time for the evening meal for the majority of the city, Brilid had a husband, two sons, and three grandchildren, she was allowed a leeway in answering her door.

She appeared a bit flustered from the back of the shop, ducking under the curtain covering the doorway; for someone who had spent nearly three centuries in service to the crown, Brilid had yet to show Odin the cutting tongue Loki used to whine about when she would correct his magic lessons as a child.

"Allfather! Your majesty, how may I be of assistance?"

Odin wasted no time, turning from the lady with the red burnt gold and greying hair, to look over the shelves of potions, some tinted-some glowing-some moving within jars that had not been shaken-and every one held a tag with neat writing detailing its contents, purpose, and maker.

"I require the Muspelheim Cognitive Potion."

Huffing a little at the lack of common platitudes, Brilid stepped forward, pulling a pair of bottles off the shelf Odin was staring at. "I have an aged version, from a fortnight passed. Or I have this recent brewed, I would recommend cutting it with a Sage Quickening to-"

"Not those," Odin looked to her in full seriousness, "The potion-"

"Prince Loki brewed? I know which one, and I also know that such a high concentration of this potion in the wrong hands will cause dangerous results. I can prepare a draft to lessen its risks-"

Gungir boomed a hollow thump on the shop floor, startling Brilid into almost dropping the two bottles she held before the mage slammed them back onto the shelf, "Allfather!"

"The potion."

Brilid grumbled something in another tongue, one Odin didn't speak, but he didn't care, the coin passed between the two in exchange for the hefty bottle was more than the elite quality potion required-master brewed or not. The extra was to ensure Brilid's silence. The woman glared the entire time, but she kept her tongue, and continued to do so for the next several days.

With the spring festivals dying down, Odin did something he would come to regret for years to come.

Xxx

The people didn't suspect anything, not with both Princes, the Queen Allmother, and the majority of the council standing right next to the king. Everyone received a cup, or for children-their parents wet a finger and ran it along their tongue. Odin gifted everyone with a serving from his personal mead casks, a blessing over every Asgardian of every age.

Both princes were among the first to receive a cup of mead, toasting the people before downing the drink in almost perfect unison, the applause ringing out from the people hid Odin's sleight of hand, exchanging the cup he'd poured for another he'd prepared from a separate cask.

No one, not even Frigga, saw the trick, the queen took her glass with a distracted grin, fully engrossed in passing on well wishes and kind words to the Asgardians gathered. Thor would be leaving tomorrow to continue the blessing, taking casks of fine mead to Asgardians and others far and wide in the realm as a sign of good faith from the Allfather.

Odin passed the mead out to everyone, ensuring the blessing traveled as far as he could safely do so.

That's all it took, a sleight of hand when the casks were prepared for transport, a tip of a wrist to pour a miniscule amount of the strong potion in each barrel.

Within three days, it was done, and even the youngest child old enough to utter broken words had been given a taste of the tinctured mead.

The Allfather sat upon the throne, leaning heavily onto the backrest as he pondered the last few days, as of that moment, almost everyone over Asgard was asleep at this time, and those who weren't would be in very shortly.

"Ancestors…forgive me for what I must do."

Gungir slammed down on the Throne riser, the sharp gong as it hit the stone ringing out and vibrating throughout the realm.

Twice the tone rang out, and sent the realm into a deep sleep.

Thrice the gong vibrated deep into the stones and waters of Asgard and the spell began.

Fourth gong and the magic wove around the four young children in their beds, fading souls into cores and bodies into new shapes. The eldest now slept in the stables with a bridle that would never be broken, the second was banished-bound to Helheim with Odin's dying breath, the third-ensconced in chains beneath Asgard's very palace, locked deep inside the entombed vault…the last…the baby…was sent away, too young to feel the full brunt of the spell, but could not remain on Asgard. Snake his father maybe, but the child would not be subject to such troubles.

Fifth slam of Gungir and it truly began.

Xxx

Loki groaned softly, trying to rub at sleep heavy eyes and finding his limbs almost too heavy to lift. His motions caught the attention of Brilid, and the familiar face calmed the faint panic in the green eyes.

"Be at ease my prince, I imagine you are quite weak in your recovering."

"Reco-" Loki slid into a choke, coughing heavily until Brilid helped him sip from a cup, the cool water calming his throat.

Brilid hummed soothingly, "Yes, you have been quite ill, much of Asgard has."

Groaning again, Loki pulled away from her hand, falling back against the pillows with dull eyes. "What happened?"

"A fever my prince, a rather nasty one. Many are still plagued by it, but will recover as are you. Your brother has asked me tell you that you must regain your strength quickly, he has news to share."

Grunting in acknowledgement with his eyes closed, Loki let out a low huff as Brilid fussed over him, the prince bit back a yawn when she began to pull away, catching her gaze once more with tired eyes.

"You might as well send him in, I know he's waiting outside the door."

She chuckled, smoothing a hand over the younger prince's forehead in parting, Loki leaned into her touch, sighing at the gesture before just resting until someone else sat on the side of the bed.

"Dare I ask?"

Thor's serious face only last a handful of seconds, before the gold-haired prince was grinning wildly. Loki had to smirk back, Thor's joy was contagious even as he was infinitely gentle in helping Loki sit up against the pillows.

"You will not believe what Father just told me."

"That's he's finally commissioned a bigger helmet to be commissioned for your big head?"

Loki's quip earned another deep laugh, and Thor held out an arm to help his brother slowly ease out of bed, slipping into the washroom but leaving the door cracked to continue speaking.

"No, not that."

"Ah so we are still waiting then."

Thor snorted, "Will you be serious for just a moment?"

"Of course brother, what is your news?"

"I'm going to be king!"

Loki leaned out the door, staring at Thor for a moment and seeing dopey grin on the blonde's face, "Yes Thor…you are the crown prince after all. That is what is going to happen."

His brother chuckled again, and Loki retreated back into the washroom to freshen up, their conversation continued in light banter while the younger of the two cleaned off and changed into a fresh pair of pants and tunic.

"Loki please!"

"Yes-yes do tell."

"Father has set my coronation!"

"Has he now?"

Thor sounded even more excited once he got going, "Yes! I am to take the throne upon the ceremony."

"And when is the grand event?"

"In three months' time."

That made Loki pause, adjusting his tunic as he stepped back into his bedchamber. It was a bit untidy, healing salves and aids scattered about but nothing serious. Already Loki was recovering and feeling better as his magic surged beneath his skin.

"A bit fast."

"So?" Thor turned to watch Loki fuss over his desk, searching the objects on top and tucking a couple knives into hidden sheathes.

"Nothing," Loki waved a hand in dismissal while searched, "I did not suspect Father would hurry something like this, but I assume he believes you are ready."

"Indeed, shall we join Mother for lunch then? You have slept past breakfast."

Loki shrugged, still not looking anywhere but through his desk, "I suppose…I…Thor have you…"

"Have I what?"

The younger prince glanced up, looking to Thor in confusion for a moment, shaking his head to clear it and shrugging it off, "I guess nothing…never mind, you said Mother would be joining us?"

"Yes! I believe Father is assisting the General of the Einherjar in accounting for those still burdened by this sudden fever, but I know Ana was in the kitchens preparing tarts this morning-"

With the two princes heading off down the halls, Brilid let out a breath she hadn't intended on holding. Loki…bless him, had very nearly been enough, strong enough with an iron will to shatter the glass slowly thickening over everything to leave a mirror coating in place of the truth.

She stepped out from behind the pillar that had cloaked her presence, clutching the package to her chest for another moment before she opened the case.

Two rose-gold rings, one masculine the other feminine, _For Prince Loki & the Lady Sigyn_.

Hela turned from Loki's darling daughter, to Odin's maniacal eldest child, Fenris the little tyke a rapid wolf coiled in chains beneath the city. And as of dawn, Sleipnir had been the Allfather's mighty steed for three years, origins unknown. Memory spells were dangerous, they took a lot of power and like stained glass were fake colors bound by a flaking seal that would all shatter with a single crack.

Odin might have tricked the Nine Realms with a sleight of hand, but Brilid was just a capable of rolling her wrist and switching cups. Tonight at end meal, Odin's cup would contain the same potion, and he would sleep to forget.

Just like everyone else.

Xxx

Xxx

Xxx

_Avengers Compound_

_June 31st, 2023_

Xxx

Loki stirred awake slowly, blinking at the dim lights, it took a moment to remember where he was, and why he'd been thrown unconscious again.

The unused wedding ring sat on a tray next to his hospital bed, probably one of the Avengers had removed it considering it and its match had sent both Loki and Thor borderline catatonic.

Sitting up hurt, mostly because he just ached in general, but Loki was determined to figure out what the hell had happened to throw him unconscious like that. He wasn't stupid enough to pick up the ring again, but he did make it off the bed entirely before Rogers and Barton noticed he was even awake, the two had been standing at the far door conversing, pausing when Loki made it halfway to them.

Barton sniggered, "Look who woke up. Thor beat you by about ten hours and then proceeded to yell at some old chick for nine."

Loki's brow furrowed, "What could possibly instigate that?"

"Besides your sister Hela destroying Asgard?"

"Clint!" Rogers' hiss was met with more confusion, and Loki scoffed a bit with a smirk as he glanced at the archer.

"Sister? Barton have you gone mad? Hela is my daughter…"

Trailing off was not what Loki had intended, his mind had prepared a rapid fire explanation with a veiled insult as a response. It also stalled, Hela was his…

"Oh by the gods…" Loki buckled, not really realizing the two humans had caught him as he dropped to his knees.

"Loki? Loki what's wrong?" Rogers didn't receive a response, Loki just stared straight forward unseeing as his mind rebounded from the spell glass shattering over it.

"He killed them…"

"What?!" Barton gripped Loki's arm tighter, trying to shake him out of the trance, "Killed who? Loki!"

Green eyes watered, and Loki tried really hard not break, but the names kept flooding his mind, entire decades of his life resetting as the spell finally broke down.

"O-Odin…he,,,he killed them…"

Rogers' hand on the god's shoulder finally grounded him enough Loki was able to meet his gaze, blinking rapidly to clear his own vision, "Loki…who?"

"My…my kids…"

Xxx

Stepping into the Avengers' common area to a screaming match was not what Loki expected when Barton said they needed to find Thor. Instead of a confused and sullen brother nursing a massive headache from a mind shattering spell, Loki found the king of Asgard raging at an equally furious Brilid.

In High Norse, the dialect of the Royal court.

Besides the borderline incoherency of the volume and outright screaming, Loki was able to get the gist of the argument. Brilid had known about the spell, the one that had scrambled Loki's and Thor's memories, and apparently all of Asgard's and much of the Nine Realms as well. She was the one who sent the rings to Loki, knowing the crack in the memories would be enough to destroy the extensive, yet fake picture Odin had constructed. The older woman knew…because she was the only one who hadn't been forced under the curse unknowingly.

With the Avengers' eyes on Loki, the God of Mischief forced himself to step forward, shoving between Thor and Brilid with an iron grip on his adopted brother and a gentle hand to the his former teacher.

"_ENOUGH_!"

English wasn't enough, and slipping into the old dialect was the right push to get both Asgardians to cease their yelling and just breathe for a moment. Loki stared at Thor hard enough the blonde physically backed down, stepping back and rubbing at his weary face that was stained by tear lines.

A soft hand on Loki's shoulder made him turn finally, and Brilid's dark grey eyes bore into his with the wisdom only time could earn. Her touch moved to his cheek, a smile turning her lips when Loki's hand lightly clasped her own.

The ache of his neck stung when her magic touched it, curling into the bones and sealing the cracks. Pain faded into soothing warmth and Loki sighed in contentment when Brilid's other hand eased the obnoxious neck brace free.

"I should not have to do this again my prince, do not-"

"Tempt death by betting my life, it will be wager I shall not win." Loki finished dutifully, clasping the woman's hands in both of his when she hummed in agreement.

"You wager too strongly for your own good child, I should not have to tell you this at your age."

Loki smirked, "You also told me only time would be final teacher."

Brilid slapped him upside the head, eyes sharp when he managed to look back at her, "You have to be _alive_ for time to still take you along its path my prince."

Smiling wider, Loki let the woman closer, wrapping her in his arms and ducking his head into her silver hair for just a moment, just a fleeting grasp of what used to be home.

"Tell me, my prince. I know it troubles you."

She didn't have to ask twice, and Loki took a breath that shook painfully, "Brilid…he…Brilid he killed them."

"I know."

Two words drove the knife deeper, and Loki almost lost control entirely, the tears still fell and her arms only held tighter as Loki fought to maintain some level of composure in front of the others in the room.

"Brilid…how…why? Why did the Allfather commit such an act?"

Thor's voice was as unsteady as Loki felt, and the younger of the two almost didn't let the woman go, she did keep a hand on the prince in reassurance, looking to her king with sad eyes.

"That I cannot tell you my prince, I was there when the Allfather asked for the potion to render the spell. I was there when it was enacted and I was there when he consumed the same magic as everyone else."

"How?"

She sighed, looking down for just a moment before holding a hand out to the blonde. Thor passed the wedding ring back to her immediately, and with a flick of her wrist the other fell into Brilid's palm.

"I switched the cups, exchanging my own for Odin's, once the spell was enacted the Allfather drank from the cup he passed to me during the realm-wide blessing. He slept that night and forgot just like everyone else. I paid the price, I left a crack in the potion-"

Loki leaned back a little, eyes narrowed, "That potion…it erased…it was _mine_, he used _my_ magic to do this?!"

Brilid held up a hand to placate him but Loki couldn't stop.

"_I_ made that spell?! Is it true?!" At Brilid's nod Loki jerked away from her, "How?! How-I…I didn't…I could not have…they were _mine_…"

She sighed, flicking a wrist and sliding a chair to catch the prince when he stumbled, Loki caught himself on the furniture but did not sit down, staring at the elder in horror, "It was not you-"

"I made the spell!"

"It was _not_ you, Loki."

His name was enough, and Loki shut his mouth with a click, staring at her for answers in desperation.

Brilid sighed again, "It was not you, I swear this. You brewed the spell yes, because I asked you to, upon delivery into my shop the spell was no longer yours to bind or control. Not when I released you of it as I always had with your work. When the Allfather asked for it, it was because your potions was _stronger_ than my own. Yours held a higher concentration and could handle being diluted across hundreds of gallons of mead to travel through the Nine Realms as the Allfather saw fit. Any powerful caster could create such a brew including myself, yours was the most convenient and timely."

Thor let out a low growl, staring at the floor as he remained hunched in his chair, "Brilid…why? Why would he do such a monstrous thing?"

Loki answered instead, wavering where he stood before he glanced at Barton. "You knew…"

The archer stared right back, "Thor slipped up when he started yelling, figured something was wrong so I tested you. He said your home was destroyed by Hela, your sister…"

"She wasn't…she wasn't our sister…" Thor's voice gave out, and the blue eyes locked on Loki in utter horror as the other prince almost collapsed onto the chair.

"Ragnarök…he…Hela…oh gods…"

Brilid went on, letting Loki the time to try and calm down, his hand covered his mouth as he tried to control himself, but the pain was too great.

"Hela is the second child of the giantess Angrboda, and Loki. There were two sons elder than the daughter, and one younger. Upon the birth of the fourth child, Odin then enacted a spell to erase the children from Asgard. Imprisoning them in separate forms of servitude and banishing Hela entirely. Three of the children perished on Asgard with the coming of Ragnarök."

Loki bit back a whine, clenching his eyes shut tight and barely realizing someone's hand was on his back in vague comfort. He just couldn't…his mind throbbed as it pieced things back together, struggling to merge the two lines of memories together to _explain_.

None of it made sense…

"Why…" Thor croaked, and the hoarse tone made Loki look up to see Wanda offering her support before they both looked to the God of Thunder, he was openly crying, mourning memories now long gone, "Why would our fa…why would the Allfather dare enact such a curse?"

Brilid could only shake her head, "I cannot tell you that my prince, I was not privy to such information-"

"Ragnarök."

Both royals turned at the new voice, one that was old in their memories and should not be standing there, leaning heavily on Sgt. Barnes and Valkyrie.

Heimdall stared at the two brothers, a heavy grief in his eyes, "Odin received a prophecy from the Oracle, and with the coming of the Loki's youngest…he set to end such a fate. In doing so he caused it. The Allfather sought to destroy Ragnarök from coming….and instead ensured that it would happen."

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**Tada?**

**Review please?**


	6. Chapter 6

_**ENDGAME SPOILERS!**_

_**YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**_

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**Disclaimer: I own nothing! If I did, Tony would be yelling at me.**

**Summary: The scales are unbalanced, they have been for a very long time. And someone is getting pissed off that this keeps happening. So she decides to set things right. Very unconventionally...the Universe is not ready for this...no one is. Undying is a worse fate than torture, making you long for the sweet pain of death.**

**Review Please!**

**To _PoorlyThoughtOutPlan, hermeticiasmythe1, MadelineT, cometothedarksidewehavecookies, TanukiBloodWolf, Lavi01, tamakaru2__: _Thank you all so much for the Faves and Follows!**

**To Guest: Yes! If you refreshed late enough in the evening...LOL I hope you're liking this! Maybe enough to join so I can reply properly! Thank you so much!  
**

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**Chapter Six  
**

Xxx

Loki remained silent while Brilid assisted Dr. Cho in checking over Heimdall, the prince leaning on the far wall behind Thor and watching with a sullen expression and his arms crossed. Asgard's watcher was as exhausted as Loki still felt, but in his case the fatal wound that had sent Heimdall to Valhalla had disappeared in the same unexplainable way he had arrived in New Asgard just before Valkyrie brought Brilid to the compound on Thor's summons.

As for the younger prince, Loki was still in pain, Brilid had healed the majority of the damage but the bruising and aches would still take time. Something that the group apparently did not have when those supposed to be dead kept reappearing.

Dr. Cho's stepping back from the bed Heimdall had been helped to, broke the tense silence that had taken over the infirmary; besides Barton and Rogers, Valkyrie, and Brilid were the only others in the room.

"I see no signs of injury or complications, minor dehydration and fatigue, nothing rest and a few hours on an IV can't rectify. There is a residue of an abnormal energy signature, similar to the readings I have on Loki, but nothing significant enough to trace. Thor has registered the same readings arriving before."

"Magic readings?"

Loki scoffed a little at Rogers' question, earning a glare from Thor but the Asgardian answered instead, "Possibly, the Bifrost energy always set off scanners or whatever when Stark would ask for tests. Heimdall has controlled the Bifrost for centuries and Loki has traveled that way. It would not be uncommon for traces of it to remain."

The affirming nod from Heimdall as he tried to sit up was enough of a confirmation for Steve, Brilid wouldn't let him up, and he sighed heavily but complied, "Brilid I am capable of standing."

"Capable, yes…able to maintain, no."

Heimdall grunted, but stayed on the bed when Dr. Cho returned with an IV she had on hand for Thor, while she inserted it, the watcher looked to Rogers, "Bifrost residue would explain the readings, that does not explain that I am supposed to be dead."

"Any ideas? What do you remember before waking on the shoreline last night?" Rogers asked.

"The attack on the _Statesman_, I sent Dr. Banner here to Midgard with the last of my strength and was stabbed through the heart. The last thing I truly recall was Thor being bound in metal before everything faded, I do not have any memories after that until Brunnhilde here was shaking me awake." Heimdall's voice was worn, but steady. And not at all informative and Loki pushed off the wall when Brilid stepped away from the bed. The woman moved to his side, letting the prince's arm wrap around her shoulders as her hand lightly wove between his fingers. Loki ignored her magic humming over his skin, she would do her own exams as she pleased and eventually do the same to Thor once he calmed down.

"So two people…both supposed to be dead…come back literally millions of miles away from where they died-scratch that-_light years_ away from where they died…and have no memory of anything other than their deaths that occurred five years ago?" Barton's summary earned a low noise from Heimdall, now that he'd been sentenced to remain on the bed he was taking the time to rest.

Thor snorted, glancing at his brother and Brilid with a wry grin, "Was this you?"

Loki growled, the noise emanating from his chest, "Why yes Thor, this is all on me, I let Heimdall be beaten senseless then stabbed through the chest to die! So that I could then have my very neck crushed to the point I would suffocate to death while blood vessels in my eye snapped and dripped down my face. I cannot believe it took you this long to notice that I was the mastermind behind a five year long ploy to resurrect myself and-"

"For the love of-can't you be serious for just once!"

"Why should I bother?! You never seem to listen to anything I say, why start actually worrying-"

"Loki this isn't a game!"

"I never said it was!"

"Can't you just-"

"Will you shut-

Brilid's wrist flicked, and both princes found themselves unable to utter a sound, left voiceless as they glared at each other.

"Now then…Loki, take a breath." The younger prince did, and felt the icy chill of the anger simmer away as he relaxed, Brilid hummed approvingly, "And Thor…stop that madness outside."

Thor's eyes blinked, and the faint iris glow stuttered out like a dying lightbulb before the God of Thunder focused, the distant rumbles that had been steadily growing louder started to fade out, the clouds easing off from scary dark to faint overcast like they were supposed to.

"Both of you, are not at fault with this. Thor, you did not cause issues with the Bifrost with that axe of yours-no matter how many times you yelled that at me this morning. And Loki did not fake his death again, not this time. Are we agreed?" Brilid's tone was so close to Frigga's, both princes could only nod in agreement, and the elder smiled as she returned sound to their voices.

"As Heimdall's return, a blessing and yes a serious question, but for now…Heimdall will rest, Thor you will go in conference with Brunnhilde to ensure she as your Regent is up to date as are you; Loki you will come with me and introduce the Avengers and get something to eat. Tonight I will help both of you with the other matter."

Neither needed to ask, they both knew what she meant, Brilid was in service to the crown-she would aid in the royals keeping up a good mask in front of others, and help them hide and deal with their troubles behind closed doors. Barton was the one to go with Thor and Valkyrie, Steve held the door for the other two, leading them back to the main area.

While the captain when first, Brilid paused and stopped Loki as well, turning to her former student with pure affection in her eyes.

The hand on Loki's cheek was humming with magic, and it brushed the aches in his chest and the sorrow clouding his thoughts. "You are a prince, and not just by blood, with Thor as King and no heir to his name, you are next for Asgard. You must be that right now, I know you are in pain, I know you grieve. Right now, you are a diplomat negotiating peaceful introductions with possible allies."

Loki snorted, "Possible allies and enemies, many in that room wish me dead."

Brilid smiled gently, "As did the entourage from Alfheim three decades ago, and yet you handled that with the grace and diplomacy I know you still have. Right now you are a prince, tonight you can just be."

That was enough, and Loki squared his stance before holding out his arm, pausing just long enough for the woman to link hers before he strode into the room. Time to face the music.

Xxx

_9:45pm_

Xxx

Loki was surprised he was allowed the freedom to be outside the Compound, mind it was only on one of the outer patios with Thor and Brilid accompanying him, but it was still a right he thought would be denied.

After a rather long and awkward brunch with the remaining Avengers, Loki had been able to give stilted introductions before Colonel Rhodes took over to give names to those also there. The change in diplomatic roles allowed Loki to blend into the background of the conversation, observing silently and under watch. While this went on, Thor caught up with Valkyrie on their people, and sent her back to New Asgard with instructions from Brilid to her students, and the warriors to tighten their training just in case. Heimdall still rested in the infirmary, allowing himself the time while it was available. This was only guaranteed when both Dr. Strange and Brilid confirmed Loki's magic had yet to return, and not just in the sense of it was weak…Brilid couldn't even find the spark that needed tending, as if the power had been removed.

Not uncommon in those who'd actually died, and it would either return over time or not at all, Loki would just have to wait. For the moment he focused on recovering physically, enjoying the lack of a neck brace for all intents and purposes of its restrictions.

Now though, the prince just enjoyed the silence, the sounds of night breaking his thoughts with their simplicity while Brilid checked over Thor. The blonde sat cross legged on the ground, too tall even in a chair for the woman as she kept her palms on his temples and fingertips brushing cheekbones and brows. Brilid was a master at healing spells, specializing in obscure areas such as potions or charms, and was an excellent teacher. For a Midgardian term she had been Loki's governess outside of basic lessons and guided him through magic learnings until he began to concentrate on illusions and fighting. But to learn to do so, required one to understand how to hurt-and to heal.

Loki glanced at the elder working, her soft silver magic weaving over Thor's shoulders the most, old scars being soothed and set to rights before the power backed off and let the god flex the thick muscles.

"There now, less likely to cause trouble. No more holding open the gates of a dying star?"

"Oops."

Brilid grinned, settling herself on one of the patio chairs and letting Thor lean against its side, head on her leg while her hand ran through his hair.

"You grieve…both of you."

"It never stops," Thor's voice was heavy, "It never eases even when that is all I have done."

"Your definition of grieving varies wildly from mine own little prince."

Thor ignored the jibe, he was nearly two feet taller than little Brilid, but her old nickname was soothing even if it didn't fully help. "I drank to ease the pain."

"And where did that get you?"

"With a headache."

"Indeed," Brilid flicked Thor's ear lightly, returning to combing her fingers through the blonde hair, "Covering up only hides the wounds, it does not help them heal. Some will never go away, but learning to embrace them is better than barely coping."

"How?"

She hummed, "I do wish, no that is not the right word…while death is never welcomed and pains us, it is a lesson in life we all must learn, there is a part of me that wishes you both had been able to learn in an easier manner than how you did. Queen Frigga's death was so abrupt amidst the conversion and chaos, and then began the trials that followed leading to now, neither of you were able to cope. You both fled from your grief."

"Do you think any of this would be different?" Loki forced his eyes to meet hers, tired and worn but trying to be steady, "Do you believe any of this would have been changed?"

"Had you been given time? Perhaps, and perhaps not-it could be much more dire had you been able to properly mourn. Both of you acted as you needed to in such a confrontation with the dark elves and then an infinity stone. Had you not been in the heat of things, time might have been wasted on decisions best made quickly."

"And now?" Thor's gaze stared out over the open area of the compound, lost in thought while Brilid paused her hand. The fingers moved to Thor's, stretching his palm out and placing hers against the king's. When she lifted her own, sparks of lightning pulled with her, snapping angrily.

"Let go…Thor you are in pain, we all are, and while I wish you did not have to, you are the King, and Loki you are the prince. Asgard needs you, both of you. Time will heal this grief but only if you mourn."

Thor's eyes were already clouded, and now they were nearly glassy with tears, Loki watched silently as the blonde pulled away from Brilid, leaning on his bent knees before stumbling to his feet. He almost followed, while Thor staggered away from them and the building, but Brilid's slight shake of her head stopped Loki from trying.

Thunder rumbled once more, this time fast and chaotic, and Loki stepped closer to Brilid in concern when Thor dropped to his knees in the middle of the grass. Rain started in slow, thick splats, and it was seconds before the downpour encompassed the area. Loki knew it mirrored Thor's tears, while hiding his own. He welcomed the mask, tilting his head up into the deluge that soaked his clothing straight through.

Somewhere, Loki knew Dr. Strange was shielding the building, only because the thunder had turned into roaring clashes throwing lightning back to the ground in menacing spikes. At least Thor was in control enough to focus the strikes, taking the hits and grounding them into the soil.

Or more likely, Thor was causing the lightning and Loki wasn't fast enough to see it in reverse. Brilid suddenly at his side made Loki focus on something other than the storm, her small form something to hold onto while he let go as wildly as Thor did. Had there been magic in his veins, Loki could have leveled several square miles, now he just let the pain take over, clinging to Brilid like the rock she was.

At least until something else cracked like thunder, snapping abruptly into focus.

Xxx

Thor couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't _stop_.

He'd lied to Brilid, a woman more like an aunt than his brother's teacher. Frigga would have been disappointed in her son, she had been slightly when Thor had traveled in time, but she would not have been glad to know how far Thor had fallen. He didn't drink to ease the pain, he drank to forget it, if even for a few hours. Five years was a lot of hours…

While the rain soaked him to his core, it didn't stop the boiling rage in his chest, and Thor roared out in pain-sending snaps of lightning into the ground and clouds alike.

"Quit zapping my lawn!"

That didn't seem possible, and Thor blinked water from his eyes to try and see if he was hallucinating or projecting-just because Loki was the master at the arts didn't mean Thor wasn't capable…just bad at it.

Steady hands grabbed his face, pulling his chin up and trying to get his attention, "Thor! You have to stop this! Come on!"

No…that wasn't possible…

What was apparently possible, was the rain falling harder, a roar that would actually cause serious damage had the first person not spoken again, shaking Thor from the hurricane in his mind.

"C'mon Pointbreak! That's a shitty welcome party!"

Blue eyes crackled with power, blinking away the glow before turning their depths to the dark brown Thor once thought were only capable of jokes.

Tony Stark did not look like he was joking, nor did Natasha when she let go of Thor's face so he could move better.

"S-stark…how?"

The deluge turned into nothing, the settling of the rain abruptly dying would have been amusing, even more so was Loki's shout as the final wave collapsed and dropped on him and anything else outside. Thor paid him no mind, standing with jerk and wrapping his arms around Stark with a wild grin.

"Ack! Widow! He's touching me!"

Natasha didn't seem to care, laughing as Thor let go of Tony and caught the woman when she jumped into his arms. This time the thunder above echoed with Thor's booming laugh, the weather calming with the god's own mind.

"I…you were dead…both of you…"

"Yeah…about that-"

"Stark?!"

"Thor! What the-Tony!"

"Natasha!"

Thor would describe the next five minutes as wild and chaotic as the storm he'd just caused, but unlike the weather, he didn't want this to end. Barton and Rhodes hand been the first to venture outside once Dr. Strange had dropped the shield, and once others had realized just who had suddenly showed up, it became an impromptu riot on the front lawn.

With everyone shouting over one other, in greeting and questions and joy, Loki slipped up to Thor's side, watching it all with a blank expression.

"Thor."

"Hmm?"

"This isn't good."

That made him turn, "Loki-"

The green eyes flicked back to the blue, "Thor, they shouldn't be here, neither should Heimdall or myself."

Loki hadn't spent his day idly, between the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, he'd been caught up on everything after his death, including Thanos and the sacrifices involved.

"Can't you just enjoy this? Even for a moment?"

His voice might have been pleading, but Thor knew better, he wasn't alive today because he'd just blindly taken things as is, Loki was right.

Something was wrong.

Xxx

_July 3rd, 2023_

_1:30pm_

Xxx

After a medical check over and an overnight observation, Natasha stayed at the Compound, Tony however fled to his lake house, bursting in on Morgan and Pepper and scaring the living daylights out of his wife. According to Colonel Rhodes it had been quite an exciting afternoon, Stark's daughter had gone ballistic and hadn't physically let go of her father until she'd just about passed out late that night. Pepper had been in too much shock to do anything other than cling to Tony all evening, finally able to let go and then let loose on him.

Rhodes had said he'd wished Pepper hadn't had Friday delete all the footage of the blow up, the woman had been shouting back and forth between praising Tony and his heroics, to yelling at him for being stupid and sacrificing himself…it had to have been interesting to witness and Loki was among a few others who vaguely mourned the lack of video.

After giving the family a couple days alone, Steve had to call Tony back to the compound, not for an obvious crisis, but because they couldn't explain any of it.

And Dr. Cho had found something.

With Morgan not letting her father out of her sight, Pepper needing to somehow undo Tony's last will and testaments with his company's lawyers, and Stark himself needing to be at the compound…

Loki found himself under heavier watch as Barton had his own family come to the Compound for the time being, mainly so Laura could watch Morgan while the Avengers tried to figure out what in the hell was going on. Instead of contributing, or even being allowed to, Loki stayed tucked on one of the couches near the long dining table everyone else sat at, well besides Banner who sat out of the way and Dr. Strange who stood across from Loki in the sitting area.

Dr. Cho's arrival to the impromptu meeting broke up the disjointed discussions taking place, and that was enough for Loki to pay attention.

"I found energy traces on both Romanoff and Stark, and with further study and calculations, it is the same signature on each of them as scanned on both Heimdall and Loki."

The blunt statement was overshadowed a bit by Quill's response, "So not the frosty stuff?"

Thor growled, "How could it not be the Bifrost?"

"How _could_ it be?" Stark flicked his fingers over the pad in front of him, the table lighting up with test scans and numbers Loki could barely make sense of. "Nat and I haven't even traveled that Rainbow thing of yours Point Break."

"Then how have I shown the same signs in the past?"

Rogers adjusted one of the floating scans, eyes meeting Loki's when the god stood to look closer. "Dr. Cho do you have the scans of when Thor showed the same energy signature?"

She shook her head, "I do not."

"FRIDAY."

"Yes boss."

Tony sighed, leaning back in his chair for a moment and rubbing his eyes, "Display energy readings from Thor on date…uh…what was that…May 2012, October 2012, November 2013, June 2015, and April 2018-the last one is under Wakanda surveillance readings."

"_Right away boss_."

"What don't you have memorized?"

Rhodes' question earned a grin, "Your birthday."

"Pepper's allergies."

"Not to poke things with sticks."

"Not to piss off politicians."

Tony dropped the legs of his chair back down, sticking his tongue out at the gathered people before glancing up at the requested scans. "Uh…is anyone else seeing what I'm seeing?"

He wasn't wrong, Loki ignored Strange right at his back as he stepped forward, but Stark was correct. The energy scans from the four-supposed to be dead people only matched two of the scans Thor had caused. The others…

"That's the Bifrost."

Loki shocked himself when he spoke, not just the others, but seeing as no one was stopping him, his hand tapped the holographic scans and FRIDAY moved them easily. "The Bifrost was not operational until a year after I was in New York," Loki directed the appropriate scans to separate, the most recent from Wakanda a bit dissimilar, but distance might have done that or Stormbreaker instead of the observatory Heimdall had commanded, "These…May was from the tesseract."

Thor nodded, "As was the one later that same year, I returned to ensure the scepter was still in custody."

"They're almost identical." Romanoff stood, adjusting the scans to line up the two from 2012 and the four within the last couple weeks.

"_There is one more file boss_."

"Show it FRIDAY."

Another scan appeared, smaller, and not from any of Thor's travels, it was a mirror image of Loki's scan.

"When was this?"

Rogers' received an answer when Loki winced once he read the date stamp, "That is when I vanished from Stark's tower, in the lobby."

"And reappeared, like ten minutes later."

Thor looked at his brother with a scowl, "You had the tesseract, and then returned with it, why?"

"The coming back part wasn't by choice."

Tony raised a hand idly, "Better question, where did you go?"

That made Loki pause, a nervous grin preceding the uneasy chuckle he let out, "I…might have been…in the Void."

Heimdall's hand suddenly slapping Loki on the back of the head was not what he expected as a result of his answer. The prince turned to the watcher with a glare, sighing softly before glancing at Thor to ensure at least someone would let him speak.

"I have for years been able to shadow-step, realm walk, slip between Yggdrasil's branches…whatever you want to call it. It's how I have been able to remain undetected in some of my work-"

"Tricks." Thor stated flatly, staring his brother down while Loki glared at the interruption.

"_Work_. The spell casting to do so is not always reliable, and the rune work even less so, I had a handful of established pathways on Asgard that with enough coercion I could relatively consistently land where I wanted to on any of the Nine Realms."

Thor leaned up on his chair, "Relatively consistently?"

"Now-"

"_Relatively_?" Thor stood entirely, the glaring he wore as he stepped around the table to face Loki directly was sharp and crackling like the lightning he was so capable of producing, "_How_ relative was that jump with Jane to Svartalheim?"

Loki grinned a bit wildly, holding his hands out in surrender, "A bit more than you probably believe and a lot less than what I normally produce."

"_Loki!_"

Tony cleared his throat, "Point Break, let it go. Why don't you let Reindeer Games here explain why he popped out of my Tower into the Void in the first place. You can berate him later."

Scowling, Thor backed off, but didn't return to his seat while Loki turned away even if everything in him was telling him not to turn his back. While Dr. Strange took the empty seat, Loki pulled the scan in question forward, then clasped his hands behind his back to avoid fidgeting.

"I jumped into the Void to heal, contrary to how well I was standing at the time, I was not in the peak of health by the conclusion of that battle." Loki flicked his fingers experimentally, hiding his irritation at the lack of response, "I wasn't able to do so with so little time between being thrashed about by Banner here prior to being shackled with Adamantium."

Romanoff's gaze turned to Loki specifically instead of the scans, "And the Void?"

"Neutralized the Adamantium effects just enough to allow myself to heal, I had intended on fleeing Midgard and the Nine Realms once I was strong enough to ruin the cuffs." Loki pointed at a flare on the scan in front of him, "I had no intention of returning. I was forced back, with the Tesseract, and not fully sure how…as I was sent back to Midgard a few weeks ago."

"How?"

Barton's question earned a low sigh, and Loki gestured to the energy spikes on the scans portraying his arrival on Midgard both times via the Tesseract, "Both times here, I was not in control of leaving the Void. After New York, there was another Realm-Walker within the Void, while I was incapacitated they took the Tesseract and siphoned some of the power from the Stone-before I could do more than barely question them, I was forced back to Midgard with the Tesseract in my possession. This last time…I awoke unable to breathe and in pain, and was thrown to this realm again. I could not tell you if it was the same being to perform both jumps, but the energy signs are identical."

"But this person would not have the Tesseract this last time, it was destroyed five years ago, I took the other one back to Camp Lehigh." Rogers sounded as frustrated as everyone looked, and Loki kept his mouth shut instead of speaking.

Tony shook his head, "It wouldn't have to be in their possession, the Tesseract was an energy source, not a key. Reindeer Games here used it as a jumpstart after the battle, but you didn't have it for…Sarval-whatever-"

"Svartalheim."

"That," Tony stood, pacing a little around the table and rubbing his jaw in thought, "Someone knowledgeable enough to travel between two places might need a boost now and then but not every time-right Doc?"

Strange scoffed quietly, "With a point of reference, interdimensional travel just requires the know-how; in between two realms or planets, it wouldn't be much difference. Once I've seen a place-on another planet or not, I can transport there with ease, I can use memories or pictures as a starting point if I have to."

"Lokes?"

Ignoring the nicknames, Loki met Stark's gaze, "It is the same for myself, after traveling via the Bifrost to other realms, I was able to incorporate various locations into my pathways. Technically I could do so from Midgard with enough power, at the moment I would need like you said Stark, a boost or an energy source, borrow some of the energy and-"

"Wait a minute," Barnes shifted from the corner he'd been standing in, almost unnoticeable if Loki hadn't been in the habit of assuring his footing in any room, "You said 'borrow' energy."

"Yes?"

"You said 'siphon' earlier."

"What's the difference?" Thor turned to Barnes, "They mean the same."

"Different words have power." Barnes replied, getting stopped by Tony with a hand.

"Not exactly Point Break," Stark had paused at the far end of the table, not quite staring off into the space, "And just a sec…'jump' Loki?"

"What?"

"You said you couldn't tell if it was the same being-person, who sent you here both times-"

"Yes, to perform both jumps almost seamlessly, it is unlikely the events were orchestrated by two separate realm-Stark?"

Tony had moved in a flash while Loki spoke, darting around the table to the far kitchen counter to snatch up his phone. "I swear I'm gonna-Pep!" Stark was fidgeting while he spoke, and Loki couldn't fully stop the confusion from crossing his face, glancing at the others and finding similar expressions, "Pep, where is she? No, where is she? Anders, I know you kept her on after…uh huh…shit!" Stark's phone clattered back onto the counter, "FRIDAY track Anderson's phone-"

"_Unavailable boss_."

"Track her key fob.

"_Unavailable boss_."

"Then track the company car!"

"_Unavailable boss_."

Natasha standing pulled Loki from watching Stark, and the red-head joined Tony at the counter, taking his phone to either aid or something else.

"Dammit…hey Doc, got any tracking spells?" Stark asked, fiddling with a computer pad without looking up.

"Excuse me?"

Glancing to the doctor, Loki smirked, "Second-rate indeed, a tracking spell is-"

"Loki!"

"I know what it is!" Strange jerked upright, wrist flicking and summoning a gold disk before letting is hover above his hand, "Tracking for who?"

Romanoff must have pulled the information up on Stark's phone, showing the screen to the sorcerer and earning a low grunt in acknowledgement.

"I need a focal point."

"Such as?"

Dr. Strange sighed at Tony's barely there focus, "A strand of hair, a voice recording, a piece of clothing…"

"Thor."

"Yes?"

Tony finally looked up, "Christmas after Ultron, you'd gotten dumped by Dr. Foster, that necklace you gave my employee…Darcy Lewis' roommate and mentor after I hired her. Didn't it have a gem on it?"

Thor nodded, "Yes, a Quartz Fulgurite, I had formed the stones myself and gave both Darcy and her teacher one."

"Didn't you have three?"

Brow furrowing in thought, Loki almost made a snarky comment about Thor trying too hard, but the blonde patted his jeans pocket and pulled out a small white rock. It was common enough Loki wouldn't have noticed, if it wasn't formed from the God of Thunder's own power and hummed in the right hands.

Dr. Strange set the stone on his glowing disk, letting the circle envelop it before tossing the spell forward into another portal.

"Where does that lead?"

Natasha responded to Wilson's question, "Better question, where is Darcy Lewis?"

"Stark Tower in New York, she's working with Selvig again since Foster left." Stark leaned around the counter to stare at the portal, and like everyone else, wasn't able to see much besides a dark warehouse interior.

"And where's that?"

"Not New York." Dr. Strange's wrists rolled, pulling up another pair of glowing disks, Loki's own hands twisted in familiar motions, but this time didn't produce daggers like he'd hoped. Thor must have caught the action, his hand touched Loki's wrist to either restrain or comfort the younger of the two couldn't tell.

Instead it slammed the hilt of a dagger into Loki's palm.

Because Stark was sprinting through the portal when something screamed from the other side.

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**Tada!**

**Reviews feed the Muse!  
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	7. Chapter 7

_**ENDGAME SPOILERS!**_

_**YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**_

* * *

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! If I did, Tony would be yelling at me.**

**Summary: The scales are unbalanced, they have been for a very long time. And someone is getting pissed off that this keeps happening. So she decides to set things right. Very unconventionally...the Universe is not ready for this...no one is. Undying is a worse fate than torture, making you long for the sweet pain of death.**

**Review Please!**

**To _EvilRandomCrazyIndividual, TheKwingDoctor, Sikanda, SAnnsi, Julia Harms, HorrorFan13, tmhisashi, marylopez0812, rauillowinraven, BlackRose64__: _Thank you all so much for the Faves and Follows!**

**To Guest: Here's another next button! What do you think? Thank you!  
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* * *

**Chapter Seven  
**

Xxx

_Stark Tower_

_December 23rd, 2015_

Xxx

Tony wasn't entirely sure how it all came to the point it did.

A few weeks after New York's big battle, HR had sent him a files of new hires for selection, trying to spread out the duties as some employees hadn't been cleared back to the Tower yet. Leaving Stark helping out in hiring and vetting new guys, and dealing with the board of directors while Pepper fought with sales and investors. Three for Lab privileges, eight for marketing, four in tech jobs, two for office work and…sales? Tony wasn't sure what they had applied for but they hit the markers for their respective departments and he sent them on. One file got flagged by his subroutines, pulling up the information of a college grad who came in with a slightly decent recommendation.

Erik Selvig said she was direct, confident, and performed well under pressure. She also had a driver's license, concealed carry permit, and took MMA classes. Three minutes into reading over her application, Tony marked it, and sent it to Happy for a second read through.

Hogan sent it back two minutes later with a huge 'NO'.

Tony hired her anyway.

And in the long run, it was a wise choice. She and Thor hit it off amazingly fast, and Selvig adored her punk attitude. Throw in she was a fantastic substitute when Happy couldn't watch Pepper's back at conferences, her ability to fade into the background while on guard was perfect.

There was only one time Tony regretted hiring her, and that was shortly after the Mandarin incident. Kat Anderson was on duty when the attack hit, and by the time Iron Man and War Machine arrived, she was bleeding out on the floor of the secluded lake house Pepper liked to use for Valentine's day with Tony when they were actually together.

Needless to say, a one Stephen Strange M.D. was not in the best of moods when Tony called him from the back of a quinjet begging for the surgeon to meet the billionaire at the hospital…at two in the morning.

Stark never did find out what actually caused the attack, the lake house was nearly gutted by the time he got there and a wicked storm-courtesy of a raging pissed off Thor-had ruined any surveillance equipment and data. Kat had been no help, she'd had head trauma that blurred too much of the incident other than the searing pain of getting stabbed almost through her spine. With Thor even further on edge by this, Tony had to let it go.

Having a God of Thunder as her therapy buddy, and Tony bugging her constantly, Kat was back on her feet and back to irritating Happy to no end in a couple months.

Now, she was staring at Happy across one of the work benches in Tony's lab, neither security specialist had blinked in over a minute and Tony was almost ready to throw popcorn to stir a reaction.

"So…Happy…you _don't_ want to train the new hire…because you _want_ Kat to fail in being a mentor?"

"Yes."

"And Kit-Kat…you _want_ Happy to take on another assistant because you _don't_ want help in being my PA slash Avengers liaison?"

"I work better alone."

Tony huffed, rubbing at his face in exhaustion. Between moving the Avengers into the new facility upstate, working on new tech for the company and the team, and trying to work out the political and business angle of this new bill proposal starting to bud up in the UN, Stark was beyond tired and did not need his head employees bickering and getting distracted. Not when one of them was due to follow Pepper to a merger meeting in Tokyo in half an hour, and the other was going to show the new hire their job and get them acclimated to the Avengers over Christmas.

However, neither security specialist could stop arguing long enough to actually decide anything.

Before Tony could be the mediator, the Tower alarms went off and the visitor warning system geared up. Thor's booming voice made it all the way down to the lab as he remembered how to announce his presence with his code words. Happy glanced at Tony, and then at his watch with no lack of disdain, Kat never took her eyes off her former mentor, not even Tony waving a hand in her face got her to break focus, or death glare-Stark couldn't tell.

"Man of Iron!"

That on the other hand, got her attention, mainly because Thor was slurring horribly and just about fell down the stairs leading from the common area to the basic lab Tony kept adjacent to the penthouse floors.

"That's new."

Tony turned to glance at the door, the blast-proof, see-through glass revealing a hunched over Asgardian who looked like he'd been thrown through the ringer. Thor was soaked to the bone, probably from the rain that had taken over New York City a couple hours ago, and he was holding a glass bottle of liquid that was half-empty and did not look it was from Earth.

"Umm…"

Happy would have likely made a snarky comment, if not for the devastated look on Thor's visage. He instead turned to Kat, getting her sharp green eyes off the god and back on the situation.

"Here's the deal Anderson, I'll head out with Pepper and be back by the end of the week, you start with the new guy and I'll switch once the merger is over." Hogan's plan wasn't the best in Tony's eyes, but considering the God of Thunder currently shedding water like a mop in front of the door…Stark would take the cop out.

Kat did too, shaking Happy's hand and letting the head of security leave unhindered. Stark gave her a grin before they both went to Thor who had since staggered away from the blast doors and collapsed onto the stairs to sit awkwardly.

He did look up when they approached, swaying violently with the bottle clutched tight in one fist. The smell of alcohol was enough to explain Thor's screwed up appearance, that and he didn't seem capable of shutting up once he saw them.

"Man of Iron! Daughter of…of…I have no idea! You have found me! I am not a hidey person. Can't you see-"

"You weren't hiding Thor, we-"

"Found you! Ha!" Thor jerked his head back as he took a swig from the bottle, "You know…Jane…she…she's so pretty…but not really 'cause guess what…she dumped me! ME!"

Kat winced, "Oh boy."

"Is that whiskey?" Tony asked.

Thor scowled, a bit feebly considering he collapsed to sit heavily on the stairs, "This is Asgardian drink! Fit for the Gods!"

"Close enough, must be strong enough to knock him on his ass like this." Kat stepped forward, trying only briefly to take the bottle from Thor before she glanced at Tony, all the while Thor was mumbling about hide'n'seek and Jane, "Sober him up or let him go?"

Stark bit back growl, this is not how he wanted his evening to go, the new hire would be sent up by Happy once he reached the lobby and their first introduction to the Avengers was supposed to be Iron Man.

Not drunk Thor.

"Point Break can you stand up?"

Scoffing, Thor made a face, jerking to his feet and almost performing a spectacular faceplant if it weren't for Kat and Tony catching him. "I can stand! I-I…I can stand" Thor swayed even worse once halfway upright, "I…cannot stand."

"Oh boy…"

Stark grunted, flicking his wrist and activating the new suit prototype he was working on. The nanotech was miles away from being combat ready, but it was enough for Tony to have the strength to stabilize the plastered god upstairs.

Between Kat and Tony, Thor stumbled upstairs like Bambi on ice, and was dropped unceremoniously on the nearest sectional couch. He mumbled something that sounded like a cross between a moan and a cry for Jane Foster, but Tony honestly didn't get the chance to translate, not when the elevators opened to admit the new hire.

"Well…that's new."

Kat was once again rendered speechless, and Tony smirked when he stepped away to welcome the newcomer. "Uh…Boss?"

Now the smirk was a wide smile, and Tony couldn't stop the chuckle, "Kat, meet your trainee-Darcy Lewis, Miss Lewis-Kat here will be your mentor and help you integrate with the rest of the team. As you can see, your first assignment is Thor."

Darcy snorted, but managed to have a bit of composure to properly greet Kat and shake her hand.

"An astrophysicist's intern? Really?"

"I majored in political science." Darcy quipped, Kat just glared.

"Boss."

Tony grinned again, "She also took a taser to thunder head here immediately after meeting him."

"Yes," Darcy smiled proudly, "Yes I did."

Kat glared at Stark even more, but did give Darcy a sly smirk, "Did he drop like a bag of rocks?"

"So hard!"

She laughed, "Oh we're going to get along great!"

Xxx

_02:56am_

Xxx

Sprawled out on the sectional, half wrapped in a throw blanket, and sipping a tumbler of scotch.

Tony Stark

Almost completely buried in pillows and cushions, nursing a glass of something….pink and yellow.

Darcy Lewis

Lounging comfortably on the couch, leaning deep into the cushions and working on the last of a dozen boilermakers.

Thor Odinson

Sitting cross-legged on the ottoman to make a relaxed square of people, draped in the comforter off Tony's bed, and slowly working on a blue drink.

Kat Anderson

While staying up late and drinking with friends wasn't Tony's original plan, it did make a pleasant evening. The four of them had inhaled the burgers and Chinese food, alongside a very good portion of Tony's liquor cabinet. From work stress, personal drama, to failed relationships…they just bitched and drank. Darcy whined about her science bosses who didn't respect her knowledge since it didn't involve their own work. Tony bitched about arguing with Rogers more. And Thor complained about the obnoxiousness Loki had caused in his youth, regaling them with tales of his tricks and cunning.

Thor's buzzed chuckle slid into a low moan, without more Asgardian drink, Earth alcohol wouldn't keep him roaring drunk, but plenty talking and easy going. "You know…Darcy…that-that Ian fellow…the one in awe of you and yet would not give you time. He gave you respect when his time was there. I envy you in that."

"Eh…yeah…" Darcy shrugged in her pillow mound, "Just…yeah…"

The god hummed, swirling his beer mug a bit and watching the foam still on the interior, "Why…Jane could not see that…the respect…I am prince of Asgard, I have been since I was born…centuries ago, I cannot…I cannot neglect my duties within the Nine Realms…and yet when we both are able…were…able…to be together, she would be distracted with her duties and research. I could not give her all of my time, and yet when I could it was not enough for her to have me…if I could not have her as she desired."

Kat snorted, knocking back a gulp of her drink and wincing a little, "She didn't get it Thor, in any relationship you have to respect all parts of the person you're with. Dating you…it's not just dating Thor, some really hot guy with big muscles-"

Thor grinned a little at the compliment, earning a smile from Kat, "Thor, someone dating you, someone who is going to really be with you…they get all of it. Thor, God of Thunder and Avenger; Thor, Asgardian and warrior for your people; Thor, Prince of Asgard and all that entails from right now until you no longer lay claim to the throne; Thor-"

She moved so the god would look at her directly, face serious and confident, "Thor, an amazing person, very compassionate and caring for your people and those you care about, and someone who deserves another who feels the same way."

With a gentle grin, Thor knocked back the last of his boilermaker, sitting up a bit better to set the mug aside, his blue eyes were dull and depressed, but met Kat's with the strength that made Thor an Avenger and powerful warrior.

"You speak from experience, don't you?" Thor's tone wasn't accusatory, or condescending, but it was firm and Kat hid her slight frown behind her glass.

"You could say that."

Thor chuckled, lounging back into the cushions again, he eventually fell over to be laying sideways and half underneath Darcy's pillow fort; Tony glanced up from where he was sprawled out and saw Kat settling down further.

"So…Kit-Kat…when were you gonna tell me you aren't human?"

Tony's blatant question earned a sleepy mumble from Darcy, "_Ooooooh burrrnn_…"

She just huffed, "What? Didn't figure that out when I got shot and walked away?"

"There's that…I figured the first part was you turning colors on the operating table, and then the gunshot thing…oh! And you've had just as much to drink as Thor here and I would still put you behind the wheel." Tony's voice trailed off a little, half asleep already before he spoke and now the burst of energy was gone and almost missed what continued.

"You're bulletproof?!"

Darcy's flabbergast tone was beat by Thor lazily rolling enough to look at Kat directly, eyes narrowed but too unfocused to be really serious.

"Turn colors?"

Shrugging, Kat buried herself in Tony's comforter after setting her empty glass aside, "Let's just say I'm a little more than meets eye."

"Personal experience," Thor smirked before settling back into the pillows, "You speak of royal duties as if you know them, and speak of hiding and respect like you've fought to keep it."

Kat's low hum was almost as asleep as Tony felt, but Stark managed to stay awake while the woman continued, "I grew up fighting for the right to live Thor, I'm not the one destined for the throne but it was what defined me for years. I fear retribution for my people, because to earn such would likely mean a war I cannot stop. And peace would not be forthcoming even at the chance of victory. I was sent off from my home, from my people, my family…and I have only been back once since and that was met with cold hostility as I was not good enough for my mother who sits regent. I am the ward of another monarch, and yet am prisoner to one who would see me dead as a trade. The news I hear of my people is via scrying or trade messages between the monarch who holds my bond and the mother who daren't care she has a child if her lack of love means she remains on the throne."

"Can you regain it? Your power I mean, and not just your glamours though that explains why if I look at you too long I have to sneeze."

Tony smirked a little, drunk Thor was much more entertaining, and yet the god was right, it explained why Kat bothered people if her glamours were cranked too high.

"I can," Kat sighed loudly, "To a point, I am the next in line because the sons of the dead king are not able to take power. One is too young, and the other is unfit for the crown. The claim I hold is a betrothal that was written before I was born, an agreement of union between the king's son and my mother the day after the crown prince was born."

"And where is the crown prince?"

Kat's sharp laugh made Stark flinch, mostly because Darcy had fallen asleep and had jerked suddenly at the harsh cackle, "Oh gods…Thor if I knew where the prince was it would save everyone a lot of time, he has been missing since the very wars that ruined my people and my home. The Queen Mother is one of the few who still believe he is even alive to this day, she bore two more sons for the king and if there is no eldest to take the crown when the youngest gains his birthright then I marry the youngest son as was promised in the treaties. Clan wars be damned, my mother will see me sitting with a crown on my head and her blood in power, love is nothing to her."

Thor's low noise sounded like he was too far gone to answer properly, but he managed anyway, surprising Tony with his sincerity, "I vow to you, Anderson, that come the day you stake your claim on the crown that is yours, I-Thor of Asgard, shall stand at your side. And be it that I am King, my armies will be at your disposal."

"You don't even know who I am Thor."

"Yes I do, you are kind, compassionate, and a graceful lady, Who just happens to be good at keeping secrets. I shall keep peace between our people, you are like a sister to me, Queen of Stars, and behind those glamours a queen you shall one day be…"

With that the God of Thunder lost the battle with the night and drink, sliding into sleep with a low mumble that was incomprehensible before he started to snore softly. Tony blinked a little when Kat ordered FRIDAY to cut the lights, sniggling deeper into her makeshift bed on the ottoman.

She must have thought Tony was asleep as well, her voice wasn't nearly as confident when speaking again.

"Oh Thor…don't make promises you won't keep."

Xxx

Considering how much he drank, Tony was mildly impressed he didn't have that bad of headache when a call from Pepper from Tokyo woke him up. After getting the update on the merger, Stark moved on to prepping breakfast for the trio still slumbering on the couch.

At least, two of them were asleep, Kat had shimmied out her blanket roll once Tony started on coffee.

"So, glamours huh?" Tony glanced over his shoulder at her approach.

Kat snorted, holding up a hand and flicking the wrist a little, the mug set by the coffee maker flew into her grasp, not a single drop of hot liquid spilled, "A bit more than that. I am adept in Void jumping and protection spells, but I really prefer sparring types of magic."

Tony grinned, pouring cream into her cup as a peace offering when he saw her tense a little when he faced her completely, "And a few that keeps you off SHIELD's radar apparently."

She scoffed, "That's really not that hard all things considered, they can't trace the Void to begin with, and I don't bother them unless they bother me."

"How much power do you have?"

"Enough," Kat shrugged, "It's hard to get a scale, or something to explain it Tony, not without knowing someone else who can do what I do-or better, to compare. I've met several who can copy some of my bigger spells, and I've met many who can basic things. It's rare I meet someone on equal footing but it does happen."

Sipping his own coffee, Tony watched her for a moment, and the information clicked into place, "You're not from here, Earth I mean. Just how old are you doll-face?"

Now her grin grew wicked, and Kat settled onto her barstool with the cocky attitude that pissed off Happy so easily, "Oh Tony…don't you know never to ask a lady her age?"

His laugh was loud enough to wake both Thor and Darcy from their sleep, and breakfast proceeded without incident or deep conversations. Stark watched Kat and Thor the entire time, Thor didn't seem to remember much of the previous night's talks, but did seem amicable to spending Christmas eve with those in the Tower, seeing as his plans had changed for his visit from Asgard.

It wasn't until later that night, when Tony was readying to take Thor to the Compound for the Avengers team holiday dinner, did the god do anything that remotely alluded to his remembering the late-late night conversation.

Both Darcy and Kat received a small stone linked onto a fine gold chain, both were pale-white almost quartz looking rocks that would likely light up under a blacklight if Tony had his way.

"They are fulgurite, I formed them with lightning from Mjolnir, I had intended on gifting one to…to Jane, but as that is not the case I shall keep the third. I hope you both will enjoy these small gifts on your Midgardian holiday."

Darcy thanked him with a solid hug and box of s'mores pop tarts, Kat held hers delicately before smiling with an aged fondness Tony honestly didn't recognize. Taking Thor's stone, Kat held one in each hand, letting her eyes close before her fists glowed gold for a few seconds. When she handed Thor back his rock, it hummed softly at his touch.

"There, now you can always find me."

Thor's hug to her was tight and comforting, for which of them, Tony didn't ask. The women were left to man the Tower and start Darcy on prep work for the Stark Industries Christmas Gala tomorrow night, the two Avengers headed upstate for a private gathering.

It would be almost a year later, that Tony would be the one arguing with Kat to get her to stay. To hang around and help him.

With the Sokovia Accords being finalized and prepped for signing, Kat had backed off the Avengers entirely. When Stark asked her to sign, even though only a very small group of people were aware of just what she could do, Kat outright walked out of his office. Three days of tense emails and phone calls, and Stark had to watch as Kat left the Tower after an awful fight that turned into a screaming match. Not because of the Accords, but because Tony had let the team divide itself over them, instead of:

"Pulling your head out of your ass Tony realize Rogers' needs to grow a pair and get his blonde head out of his own ass so the two of you can shut the fuck up and talk about this!"

An hour before Tony had left for the compound to confront the team, Kat had left. As in off the planet left, and Stark slowly started to lose everything.

Xxx

Xx

Xxx

_July 3rd, 2023_

Xxx

Stepping into a dark warehouse somewhere in Midgard that smelled like a rotting sewer…was never in Loki's mind how to spend an afternoon.

But, it's where he ended up when Thor all but shoved him forward in his own haste to follow Stark through the portal and Loki went along to keep from falling. Strange was right behind them as was Rogers before the portal snapped shut abruptly.

Something was _wrong_

The scream had died out soon after they'd stepped through, leaving the group clueless to the source in a maze of metal shipping containers stacked haphazardly in crumbling rows. Some were rusting and had holes, others were crumpled like the Hulk had smashed around for a while.

Stark was ahead of them, using the arc reactor on his chest as a flashlight now that his suit had encased his body once again. Apparently he had a spare.

Thor stayed by Loki's side, having pulled his axe with him and shifted into his armor with barely a breath, both were armed but they were both tense, observing everything and trying to find clues as to-

This time the scream drew all of them to running, and Loki being faster pulled ahead with Rogers to lead the way through the wreckage.

Epicenters of fights were never where Loki enjoyed finding himself, much less so when a skirmish was really a full on battle. This time was no different when he ducked under a broken beam to find a perfect circle clear of destruction, and found the screamer pinned beneath the claws of something out of a horror story.

It looked like it could be a mix between a Chitauri and a rotting corpse, in all honesty Loki couldn't think of anything else when he saw the thing, just that the huddled body beneath its jagged claw of an arm was bleeding heavily onto the cold floor while the creature focused on them instead.

"That's…"

"Disgusting."

Thor's assessment wasn't wrong, and Loki had to fight to keep from retching when the smell hit him. Rotting corpse didn't even begin to cover it, but Thor was already hefting Stormbreaker to throw.

"Brother I wouldn't-"

Too late, the axe head slid neatly into the thing's upper chest and neck, forcing it back from the body. With Stark blasting it with a repulsor before it even hit the ground, the stench only got worse as now heat aggravated the thing's mess of a form.

Dr. Strange scowled as well, pushing past Loki to crouch over the body still bleeding on the ground, Stark wasn't the only one who growled when the sorcerer gently turned the person over, Thor was nearly shaking in rage as well. The brunette hair was matted with blood and other things none of them wanted to mention, and the bruising was enough to color the woman anything but her natural skin tone.

"I told her not to do this again…she's gonna get herself killed!" Stark's voice was almost shaking, and Loki was as speechless as Rogers, for entirely different reasons, but the broken woman was a wreck.

"She might just have managed it this time, Stark that thing hit her scars…the ones _I_ fixed last time. She's bleeding out."

"Then do something!"

"I can't!"

Thor growled, "Enough! Stark give her to me, Loki cut that sleeve, tie it on her leg. Strange do you know of any other doctors she can go to?"

"Thor-"

"Do you?!"

Sighing heavily, the doctor nodded, already standing to form a new portal, Loki might have questioned his shaking hands, if it weren't for his trying to slice off the only piece of the woman's clothing that was relatively intact. Rogers began to help, getting a rudimentary tourniquet on the bleeding thigh before his button up shirt was removed to staunch the bleeding gash on the woman's back. Likely from the monster's claws.

Thor was the one to pick her up, wrapping her in his cape. Stark was nearly trembling in rage when the portal was fully exposed and let them out into a hospital somewhere in New York. While Loki was almost uneasy to step through, Rogers made him, seconds before Stark shot something back through the portal and set the place on fire.

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**Tada!**

**Reviews feed the Muse!  
**


	8. Chapter 8

_**ENDGAME SPOILERS!**_

_**YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**_

* * *

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! If I did, Tony would be yelling at me.**

**Summary: The scales are unbalanced, they have been for a very long time. And someone is getting pissed off that this keeps happening. So she decides to set things right. Very unconventionally...the Universe is not ready for this...no one is. Undying is a worse fate than torture, making you long for the sweet pain of death.**

**Review Please!**

**To _zaylo267, Jennjennr, Emerald180, pandoraandamanda077__: _Thank you all so much for the Faves and Follows!**

**To Guest: Best of luck on your finals! And Happy Birthday! I almost made it! lol Here's a new chapter! I would love to hear your theories! Thank you!  
**

* * *

**Chapter Eight  
**

Xxx

"Christine! Christine Palmer!"

Tony was finding it hard not to let the shaking take over, he'd begged her not to do anything stupid, not after Thanos and the Snap. Finding out she'd survived the incident, was a godsend.

A year later, she'd vanished, leaving a note saying she had something to clean up and not to worry. Which is the exact opposite of what Tony had done.

Kat had come by once in a great while to visit and meet Morgan, but the majority of the five years between the Snap and the end…she'd been gone.

Stark had thought her smart enough to go home, go to her foster family, or at the very least go to Thor. When none of that became true, Tony had even used Natasha to contact Danvers. Carol had met with Kat once, on a distant planet known for mercenaries and outlaws, but the Captain hadn't been able to give much in the explanation of Kat's whereabouts or doings beyond that.

Now, he was watching her get wheeled into the ICU OR by Stephen's former colleagues, the doctor himself watching miserably while his ex-girlfriend was the one shouting orders.

Last time this happened, it had been Rhodey with a hand on Tony's shoulder in near hopeless reassurance, this time it was Rogers who pulled Tony into the conference room another doctor lead them to so they wouldn't cause a disturbance. Thor was up and pacing irritably, while his brother had settled into a chair in the far corner to watch in silence, Tony was fidgeting nonstop the second he collapsed into a chair after the nanotech suit had retracted, Rogers was stationary against the wall, and Strange…was hunched over with his hands in fists, the fingers tight enough his gloves were creaking faintly with strained leather.

"She know what she's doing? Palmer? I think I saw her name on the file last time." Tony's voice was more confident than he felt, but he had to break the silence, before somebody hit something.

"Christine is fine, she was my assistant on both surgeries the first time."

Strange's tone made Thor turn, and the god narrowed his eyes a bit when he spoke, "And why did you not join them? You aided her after the last such injury and yet turn away now-"

"Easy Point Break-"

"No! Why do you turn away magician?"

Strange winced, "Thor, I-"

"You claim to be a healer and yet-"

"Because I_ can't_!"

Even Loki looked shocked when Strange lunged to his feet, not quite screaming but damn close when the sorcerer suddenly yanked his gloves off to reveal lines and lines of scars gnarling the long fingers and palms. "_This_ is why I can't help her! I'm ruined!"

While Strange slumped back into his chair in embarrassment, Thor was the one who leaned back against the wall, sighing loudly as he slid to the floor in shame. Tony let the silence hang this time, glancing at Strange who kept a scared hand over his face but otherwise was almost trying to get the wall to absorb him entirely. The five of them remained quiet, left to wait after Steve called the compound to update those left behind so suddenly.

"The price of your gifts."

Loki's sudden speaking drew Stark's focus after several minutes, and Tony turned as Strange finally looked up. Green eyes flicked to Tony briefly before settling on Stephen.

"Your hands, an accident I'm assuming? Lead to your power and the price of such gifts is the use…"

"Of my hands yes, I thought by learning the arts I could stop the nerve damage and the bare minimum be able function again let alone perform surgery. But to do so, is to give up everything I can do to maintain the hold."

"They hurt, don't they?"

Steve wasn't being rude, just overly concerned like normal and Tony almost wanted to berate him for the abruptness, Strange didn't seem to notice, or just didn't care as he sighed heavily, one hand gripping the other and trying to rub it a little as they both obviously trembled.

"Almost always, some days are better than others."

Loki scoffed a little, leaning his head back against the wall, "Scars never stop hurting, no matter how much they heal."

"You speak from experience brother?"

"You and I both know my glamours will hold until I die Thor," Loki huffed softly, "That's the one thing I cannot afford to lose even if I do everything else."

Xxx

It wasn't until after midnight, that Christine was able to give them some news. Stepping into the conference room to find barely awake Avengers and two magic users just as clinging to consciousness, the doctor wasn't as shocked as she could have been.

That and Stephen had shifted into casual clothing and sent his red cloak to the New York Sanctum while the hours had dragged on. Loki had been able to snag a couple hours of rough sleep, alongside Rogers catching a short respite after nine pm. The rest had remained in tense silence or awkward casual talk, nothing that could lead to explanations or further information of the young woman they were waiting for news on.

Loki couldn't decide if he wanted to know, or just remain quiet, while on the path to recovery he still ached and the exhaustion of trying to heal without magic reserves had been a drain days ago. Tonight he just wanted to find a bed and sleep for a year.

Instead, Loki was one of the few already alert when Christine Palmer entered the conference room, dressed in fresh scrubs but looking as tired as everyone likely felt.

"Mr. Stark?"

"Yeah?"

Palmer sighed, "She's alive, heavily sedated like last time. Dr. Helen Cho joined us after two hours and we were able to close the gash in her back. The wound did not lacerate the old scar tissue like we'd feared, but it will still leave a mark. There was a fracture we had to surgically stabilize on one of her right lower ribs, and severe bruising on the right lung that needs to be monitored for a few weeks."

Tony huffed loudly, rubbing at his face, "And her skin?"

"No_ incidents_, like last time, she was still in control during the surgery and throughout recovery-besides bruises and a few scrapes-all is normal. While she wasn't able to regain full consciousness, there were no drops in vital signs or signs of severe distress. Sedation was only to keep her in control of the pain until able to wake up completely." Palmer's words lead Stark to just about go limp in his chair, sighing loudly in relief, Thor wasn't much better and Loki watched him sag against his bent knees in pure exhaustion.

"Can we…can we see her?"

Palmer looked like she was about to protest, but she glanced at Stephen and shrugged, "There's nothing medically keeping visitors from her room, but she won't be coming out of sedation until noon at the earliest."

Xxx

Loki wasn't sure what to expect when he followed Thor into the private room, Tony and Stephen had gone ahead of them while Rogers had joined Palmer and Cho to discuss moving the woman to the Compound. Once in the dimly lit space, Loki was hard pressed to come up with something to say and break the silence.

The machines attached to the woman looked similar to the myriad of wires and tubes Loki himself had woken up with. The breathing mask at the minimum was the same, but instead of a neck colored with contusions, hers was clear and left only pale-smooth skin. A wicked mark discolored and misshaped her left cheek and eye, and the fine angles of her face were nearly thrown off by the blow. Bandages wrapped both arms from fingers to almost her shoulders, exposing the dark bruises on her left collarbone and edges of bandages compressing her chest and ribs further down.

While Dr. Strange and Tony were going over the files of medical information, Thor had moved to the other side of the bed, leaving Loki's view unobstructed while the blonde gently ran his fingers over the woman's scraped up hand with the IV's attached. A gentle kiss was pressed to her temple, before Thor leaned over to whisper something in her ear in a thick Norse accent Loki couldn't make out.

Loki slid into the high dialect, keeping his voice pitched low to not disturb anyone and placate Thor's likely volatile temper, "_She is more than another employee to you._"

A weak chuckle slid from Thor's throat before he responded in the same tongue, "_Were it not my affinity to bringing pain to those I care deeply for, she would likely have held a place in Asgard within the court had things been different_."

"_Oh_?"

Thor shrugged, "_Did you not ever watch Midgard while you were on the throne? She and I have been great friends for many years now. And, there is more to her than can be seen, her knowledge alone is an unfathomable asset, setting aside her education in politics and protocols I would almost consider her a worthy advisor_."

"_Almost, brother_?" Loki stepped a pace closer, looking at the woman a bit closer to try and see what Thor did, as the blue eyes never once looked back at the dark haired prince.

"_Yes, only because I doubt you would enjoy losing your title to someone who prefers Midgard_." Thor's tease was met with a faint smile from Loki, but the prince still tried to find answers to the budding questions. When nothing was obviously forthcoming, Loki backed away, giving Stark room to copy Thor and press a chaste kiss to the woman's clean hair that smelled of harsh cleaner, before he too stepped back.

"She's gonna be alright Thor, the rib fracture was healed before she even made it off the operating table. By tomorrow night she'll be itching to get out of bed." Stark's tone was too light, forced into mock positivity to try and be reassuring. It failed, when Thor met Stark's gaze with sharp eyes that used to make those in the Einherjar kneel to their Prince.

"You and I both know Stark, her strength does not lie in this."

Tony shrugged, "No, but it does lie in making it look like it does, she can fake it better than Reindeer Games here."

With that Loki glared a little, but didn't comment, not when Thor's hand sparked a bit with either static build up from his anxious waiting…

Or power he pressed into the woman's hand with a touch reserved for pure tenderness and caring. Her muscles locked up and eyelids clenched tight, but she did not wake even when Thor let go. She did however, sigh heavily in her sleep and fogged the oxygen mask. While the breath faded, so did the bruises on the woman's face on shoulder, the pale skin easing back into view.

Dr. Strange cleared his throat, glaring at Thor with his arms crossed before the God of Thunder broke the quiet again, "Reprimands have no place here sorcerer."

"Power transfers cannot be given without direct consent, to do so without-"

"Is to let her suffer," Thor snapped, glaring back at Strange with a fire in his eyes that fueled voracious storms, "You do not know of what you speak sorcerer, your arts are bound by Midgard, hers and mine own are not. Her injuries now are _nothing_ in comparison to what could truly cause her death. She would have accepted without any of your rules dictating such-"

"Oh can it Point Break-she's not human Doc, and is older than New York City entirely, probably older than that even." Tony waved a hand in emphasis, "Thor's bounced sparks at her before, she can throw them back just as easily. Hell, give her a couple days and she'll just pass the energy back anyway. Now, she's going to sleep and heal, Dr. Cho will move her to the compound in a few hours. Would you be willing to take the rest of us back as well, or do I need to call a car?"

"That doesn't explain-"

Loki growled, "Oh do shut up. Second-rate you stand, and that's as you'll remain until you can learn to break the damn rules even when you're the one by whose hand they were written."

"And you don't question this?" Strange's tone implied he highly doubted Loki's sanity, at this moment or any.

Snorting a little, Loki's grin turned wry, and made Thor growl softly in complaint, "Oh I intend to, once she regains consciousness."

"Loki-"

Meeting Thor's gaze, the younger of the two smirked, "For political purposes of course brother. Did you not call me your advisor?"

Xxx

Xx

Xxx

_July 6th, 2023_

_Avengers Compound_

Xxx

Loki leaned on the wall silently, arms crossed tight over his chest and frame tense with almost a nervous energy, the cause wasn't abruptly clear, but without magic to dispel some of the cautious emotions he was left to either pacing or darkening thoughts.

Once the mystery woman had woken successfully at the Midgardian hospital, Stark kept good on his word and had her moved to the Avengers facility. Incidentally she was placed in the same bed Loki had been using during his convalescence. She surely wasn't human, all bandages but a small one on her back were gone, and other than her continued comatose like state the dark brunette appeared completely healed. Unfortunately, according to Palmer and Cho, something in the tangles of her hair had been an issue, and instead of letting someone with actual knowledge do anything, both medical professionals had just cut off almost a full two and half feet of dark locks.

Thor had been furious when he found out, but Stark had been able to keep his damage to a minimum, hair grew back.

On the note of Thor's ties to the woman, Loki was still lost. After Dr. Strange had assisted in all of them minus the sorcerer himself returning to the compound, Thor had shown Loki to a private bedroom next to his own. Instead of caring about the levels of surveillance he was under, or precautions the Avengers had taken in his regard, Loki just collapsed onto the bed and slept until hunger finally beat off his exhaustion. Since her arrival, Thor hadn't spoken more than five words to anyone, secluding himself in his room or staying with the woman as Stark had a daughter and wife to attend to.

Today though, Loki stood behind his brother in silent vigil, the blonde dozing off in the chair beside the hospital bed as he waited for any change in the sleeping figure.

While wholly unfamiliar and a cause of great confusion, Loki could at least appreciate the woman in her looks. Long lashes graced high cheekbones, accenting her strong jaw and delicate lips, the thick hair that had probably reached past her hips was still full in framing her face and neck. Her figure was strong, built like a dancer and toned like one who knew how to fight. She'd likely still be shorter than both Loki and Thor, but it would suit her and by the looks of it Loki's chin would just barely be high enough to touch the top of her head.

There was something else there, something Loki both recognized and couldn't understand at the same time. She almost hummed with a power beneath her skin that Loki almost longed for. Whatever and whoever she was, that power was strong.

And she was waking up, blinking slowly and starting to fidget on the bed, the low moan she let out was more accidental than anything, judging by how she tensed up when Thor jerked awake and stood at her movements.

"There you are," Thor smiled as he sat on the bed next to her, easing the oxygen mask off when she reached for it. Rich, emerald eyes met blue and the smile was dazzling when she fully woke up, "Hello Queen of Stars, how fare thee?"

"I fare well," She coughed a little, smiling wider when Thor grinned, "Prince of the faraway people, do you say the same?"

The nicknames earned a small grin from Loki, who kept quiet while Thor helped the woman sit up and wrapped her in a strong hug. "Oh darling…what have I told you of taking on things bigger than yourself?"

"That thing was not bigger than me! I had everything handled!"

"And yet we found you bleeding heavily and unconscious."

"I had it handled!"

"How?!"

"Better question," Tony Stark's approach finally drew the woman's focus elsewhere, her gaze flicking to Loki briefly but looking the Stark in the end, "Why were you attacking the creepy thing in the first place? And where have you been doll face?"

She sighed loudly, sitting up better and crossing her legs with no signs of her injuries, "I've been busy Stark, and besides, I didn't go after that thing, it attacked me first. Self-defense."

Thor gently tapped her chin to regain her attention, "What was it?"

"How am I supposed to know? Looked like a zombie-chitauri to me."

"Katherine-there's no such things as Zombies." Tony replied staring at her nonchalant attitude with obvious frustration.

Kat rolled her eyes, "Twenty years ago you were saying the same thing about aliens, and yet three of us are here in front of you, I don't know what that thing was boss, but it wouldn't actually die. I tried everything. Where is it anyway?"

"Burned to ash," Thor tried to grin but failed, "I struck it down with Stormbreaker and then Stark set the entire building ablaze."

"Note to self, burn the asshole next time," Kat rubbed her eyes a bit, "Your axe wouldn't have kept it down for long, I tried my own weapons and they failed twice, it kept getting back up after a bit. Fire must have worked, didn't have time to try that."

"How'd it get the drop on you anyway Kit-Kat?" Stark took a seat on the adjacent bed, sliding over when Loki moved to lean on the edge as well, "You haven't gone down like that in years."

She shrugged, "Not really sure on that either, I missed a step and literally fell on my face, felt the stab and then I got nothing. Pretty sure my spell backfired a little bit."

"A little bit?" Thor lightly flicked her ear, brow furrowed in question, "How could you possibly miss something like that?"

Waving a hand in dismissal, Kat eased off the bed, stretching in her tank top and sweatpants for a few seconds, "Something's been glitching with my spells for a couple weeks now, it happens when I jump too much. Gimme a bit and it will settle out. Now, can someone get me shoes so I can get food?"

Tony laughed, hopping off the bed to wrap the woman in a tight hug and spin her around a bit, "Ah I missed you doll-face, and Steve is just going to love that you're back again!"

Her laugh was as confident as Stark's, and Loki couldn't fight the grin at the sound, he watched the two leave before glancing back at Thor. The puzzled look hadn't faded though, and Loki cleared his throat to get the blonde's attention.

"Thor?"

"She doesn't miss."

"I beg your pardon?"

Thor turned to him completely, "Loki, she's as strong as you are, or _stronger_…she doesn't miss."

Xxx

Stark's assessment of Steve enjoying Kat's presence seemed to be _accurate_, in the terms Loki was familiar with at the very least. Heavy on the sarcasm.

Rogers was in fact, not as amused as Stark was by Kat regaining not only consciousness but also mobility. Seeing as after she'd changed into jeans and a better fitting sleeveless shirt and boots, and then proceeded to run into the common area and literally tackle Romanoff-much to Tony's chagrin and Rogers' yelling…

With Romanoff and Kat on the floor, Banner laughing from his seat at the table, Rogers yelling at all three for being loud-Loki was for once actually missing Asgard. The similarities between Thor's team and the Warriors Three, the comradery of the fighters and friends, the grief was enough to make him pause off to the side, not wishing to break the atmosphere with his presence.

While others went back to finishing the midday meal, Kat was pulled from the floor by Barton, earning another hug and light shove from the archer before he directed her to the kitchen island to start fetching her own plate. Loki ended up in the shuffle for food as well, getting walked around and avoided until he stood next to the woman without realizing it. His hip collided with hers, and both plates went falling, Loki's hands instinctively flicked out to stop their fall, when nothing happened Kat's did in a split second, the shimmer of magic swirling around the plates and food to lift both back to easy grabbing level. Loki grabbed both of them, the familiar touch of magic washing over his fingers like a soft breeze before it faded.

"Thank you." Loki's brow was furrowed, but his tone was respectful, earning a polite grin from the woman as she took her plate back with a nod.

"You're welcome," Kat's hand shot out, polite turning to welcoming smile on her face, "I'm Kat, you must be-"

"Loki," He smiled a little easier, "I am of the assumption Thor as told you-"

Kat screamed, not exactly from pain, though Loki sure as fire felt the sharp crack of static when their hands touched. Enough of a shock, Loki jerked backwards, stumbling over his feet and dropping to one knee, Kat only remained upright because she was shocked back into Rogers' arms, the soldier catching her before she fell. Thor's hand up to keep the others back was enough, and Loki had to fight to control his ragged breathing as the stinging died down.

"What just happened?!"

Less of a question and more of a demand, but Loki couldn't reply to the Captain, instead he just stared at the woman shaking out her hand like it stung.

"Loki?" Thor's tone was bordering on concern, but there was enough suspicion that his brother didn't bother looking to meet the blonde's gaze, it wouldn't be on the God of Mischief anyway.

"I…it wasn't me."

Kat shrugged as well, "Haven't done that in a while, I'm not the sparkles one Thor, that's you."

Sighing heavily, Thor rubbed the bridge of his nose like he had a headache, Rogers made sure Kat could stand before stepping back when she flicked her wrist to clean up the now shattered plates and food.

This time, Kat held out her hand with the shimmer of a spell over the skin, helping Loki to his feet without a second thought.

Before she could speak, Loki rolled his wrist and grabbed hers, holding the hand up higher to get her focus entirely on him, "You. Are a Siphon."

She stuck her tongue out him, tugging on his hold and scrunching up her nose when Loki didn't release her.

"Thor extended some of his power to you for healing, and now you shock others with static?" Loki didn't really notice his tone was dropping, sinking into a low burning anger. Kat didn't back down at least, staring back even if it held a touch of fear in it to Loki's eyes. "What do you expect to pull from me little mage? Hmm? Mocking others in their talents to use for your own gain?"

Loki took a step forward, almost pushing her back as he loomed over her, she held in place though, caught in his glare and even a low level trembling starting in Loki's grasp. Kat tugged on his grip again, failing as she tried twisting it and only received a harsher hold. Voice growling, Loki couldn't stop the menacing grin taking over, part of him enjoying the look on her face as she seemed one step away from actually cowering or at least flinching in fear, "You take from others what you do not have, and for what? Parlor tricks to rise above your status? What worth does that give you as you draw on nothing-"

There was no way, in the entirety of Nine Realms, Loki would have ever expected Kat to wrench from his hold-nonhuman or not, it wasn't like Loki was lacking in physical strength. With her left arm free, the right swung up and slapped Loki across the face, forcing his entire torso to swing away and feet to stumble to remain standing. If training with Thor and his friends had taught Loki anything, it was how to stay on his feet.

Before he could do so much as yank a hand to his reddening cheek, Kat's hands were glowing and on his skin, the sear of the power in her veins an icy fire that burned. Green eyes shimmered like hot glass, boring into Loki's with a rage Midgard wasn't capable of building, Kat's face was a snarl, the growl coming from her throat predatorial as she forced him back to one knee with ease.

"Now you listen well, Silver Tongue, words may burn and tricks you may hide behind like smoke on glass, but you know _nothing_, of my blood, of my life and you certainly cannot hold claim to dictate my strength. _Little_ mage you call me?" Her head tipped to the side, the sneer morphing into a wry smirk that let out a coy chuckle, "Little_ mage_? You? The God of Mischief and Lies, calls me-a _mage_? You know _nothing_ Son of Odin!"

Kat's grip tightened, and Loki had to fight not to struggle against the sear of magic, it didn't invade, it didn't attack, it just sat there, coursing over his body in rolling waves unseen. "Prince you may be, but I am a _Queen_. Yes, I am a Siphon, because that to survive I do what I must. But I do not draw power like water from a well, I do not cast aside such like the taint you think it is. It is freely given and gratefully returned. You could not possibly understand what I have been through, what I have_ done_."

Loki jerked violently when she released him, coughing and wincing as she stepped back. Kat just looked down at him in disdain, the sneer back on her face when he tried to stand and almost collapsed entirely, gripping the counter to pull himself up. Leaning on it for support, Loki gaped at her for a moment, eyes widening as the clothes on her body melted into different garb entirely. Leather gear, _hunting_ gear.

"If anything," Her voice was plain, uninterested and dismissive, and Kat raised a hand-wrist flicking when Loki tried to grab at a steak knife and she sent the utensil clattering to the floor, "_You_ should be grateful."

Her fingers snapped, and Loki wasn't the only one who darted for her when Kat vanished in a cascade of smoke. The fumes disappeared as she did, the crackle of magic heavy in the air for several stunned silent seconds.

Stark was the one to recover first, slamming a fist on the dining table, "I'm a literally going to kill her this time."

"For what?" Wilson's tone was bordering on questioning and blowing everything off, Loki wasn't entirely sure if he was in the wrong, "Who the hell is she anyway Stark? Where'd she go?"

"Have a care how you speak Falcon." Thor's heavy voice cut off any further protests, the blonde glancing at them all before looking to Loki directly, "She is in the Void."

"She's _what_?!"

"Thor-"

"Wait-"

Loki stared back, ignoring the startled complaints and confusion as Thor finished putting the pieces together for all of them.

"Loki…" For once, the dark haired sorcerer couldn't read Thor's expression, utterly lost as the God of Thunder stared him down, "She is the Void Jumper, Loki."

"We can all see that Thor!" Wilson snapped, "How do we get her back?"

"We do not."

"Excuse me?"

Stark sighed loudly, "We can't track her, she's not even on this plane, like_ existence_, she's between worlds and unless you have magic in your back pocket there's no bringing her back til she wants to. Kat's too damn strong."

"So what. She's just a loose nuke?"

Thor didn't turn around, and the weight of his gaze made Loki squirm, "No, Wilson she is far worse than a rogue weapon."

Barnes cut Wilson off, "How so?"

"She's on our side."

The low gasp that came from Natasha was echoed by Stark swearing under his breath, leaning on the table with a groan while the assassin just looked nervous.

"Thor what are you talking about?"

Blue eyes stayed locked on green, and what followed was Loki's salvation, and his reckoning.

"Katherine is the very reason three of you stand before me."

"Oh gods…" Loki's voice croaked, and he had to lean on the counter fully when Thor's words started to finally sink in.

Thor nodded sharply, "She is the one who sent you here,_ alive_."

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**Tada!**

**Reviews feed the Muse!  
**


	9. Chapter 9

_**ENDGAME SPOILERS!**_

_**YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**_

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**Disclaimer: I own nothing! If I did, Tony would be yelling at me.**

**Summary: The scales are unbalanced, they have been for a very long time. And someone is getting pissed off that this keeps happening. So she decides to set things right. Very unconventionally...the Universe is not ready for this...no one is. Undying is a worse fate than torture, making you long for the sweet pain of death.**

**Review Please!**

**To _DesertBlueOasis, theweirdestone, hanabatake, johncorn__: _Thank you all so much for the Faves and Follows!**

**To Guest: Thank you, I truly appreciate your criticism on Kat, and no that is not sarcasm. I LOVE it when readers tell me something sucks! Well...how about instead of one next button you get TWO? Yay no more finals! Please please please tell me your theories! Old and New! I would love to know! I hope to keep Kat around, so keep on reading! Thank you!  
**

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**Chapter Nine  
**

Xxx

_Years ago_

Xxx

Snurri smoothed the blankets over the newborn with tender care, smiling as the baby snuffled in his sleep but didn't stir. His mother was still sleeping, finally, having nearly passed out after four days of caring for her new son. As the Queen's favorite handmaiden, and newly assigned nursemaid, Snurri was slowly getting the hang of caring for the princeling alongside the Queen and new mother.

Their realm had been tormented by clan wars for generations, sometimes broken up by horrid battles with the other realms, but mostly the seven largest feudal clans had disputed over lands and territories amongst the six minor tribes that encompassed the remainder of the population.

Somehow, the graces of the universe lead to the uniting of the two most vicious leaders.

Through marriage.

Son the Black Shadows, and Daughter of the White Stars, united in a ceremony of peace and prosperity to bring a monarchy into power over the realm holding council with the other clan leaders to ensure equality.

And control, the Shadows clan wasn't known for their ruthlessness for nothing.

With a year, the realm was flourishing for the first time in a millennia, and the era of fortune was welcomed even further when a daughter of shadows and son of stars were married, clan sister to the King and clan brother to the Queen united and made Royal Elects. For eight centuries the realm thrived, and wars with other realms died down to manageable levels that allowed the armies to bulk up to become a powerhouse.

To add to the splendor, the most perfect blessing happened.

And Snurri was currently holding him.

But even the news the Queen was expecting didn't stop the vicious wars from returning, first on Midgard, but now threatening even the Citadel itself once battles commenced on this realm. Blood flowed like lava among the harshness of the native winter, and the rage of weapons was louder than the storms.

Amongst all the chaos, there was hope…

Crown Prince, heir the realm, powerful in the gifts and arts of magic, and would one day marry the child of the Royal Elects. The Lady was expecting a baby any day now, gods willing it would be a girl.

A royal naming and a betrothal all in one, and with their marriage in years to come, the perfect unity of the clans would put an end to the stagnation in tribal and feudal negotiations for actual planet wide laws and trade agreements. Uniting the realm for eternity.

That and the potential power between the new ruling couple and the realm would be unstoppable.

A low murmur from the Queen made Snurri turn, glancing at her still face before the maid's focus returned to the newborn. Already, the ancestral markings were distinguishing themselves from the prince's baby wrinkles, the etchings telling the tales of his parentage and newly fledged power beneath his soft skin.

When the low knock sounded on the door, Snurri was expecting another midwife or maid, possibly even a guard with news on the war, yet after placing the sleeping princeling in his cradle and going to check the door-the last person in the entire realm was on the other side of the door.

King or no, he owed her respect, and until he'd set his weapon aside in the hallway she didn't allow entry. Stepping into the suite's antechamber when Snurri let him in, the king let out a low sigh as the chamber wards flexed at his presence.

"Does she rest?"

"The Queen sleeps your majesty, peacefully, as does your son."

The grin that had stolen his queen's heart spread on his face, the skin stained with soot and what Snurri was desperately hoping was not blood. All of his armor was marred, filthy with mud and questionable stains and tears from brutal weapons.

He stepped past Snurri again, into the bedchamber to gaze upon his wife who still slept.

The princeling however stirred at the new voice, blinking in the candlelight before he squirmed when his father eased the bundle of blankets into thick arms.

"Look at you…such a tiny thing, who could imagine you will one day be queen?"

Snurri scoffed, "Your queen for one."

Chuckling deeply, the king soothed his son before setting the groggy infant back in the cradle. "He will be strong, I am sending Maxir to guard my wife, Snurri you will take the prince to the Temples of Langthar at dusk."

"The temples? Your majesty!"

"Enough!"

Whirling on the maid, the king's eyes burned into hers, "He will be safe in the Temples, war will not reach him as it already does our realm. An oath binds the leaders of the Nine Realms to leave sanctuaries out of their warmongering, while battle rages my son will slumber."

As the King left, Snurri growled, clearing her throat abruptly to stop him, "Remove the cantrip."

"Snurri-"

"Remove the cantrip, the sleeping draught on the Queen, the one to hide your yelling."

Another low sigh, this one accompanied by a flick of the king's wrist and the drowsy haze in the room dissipated.

Once the door was locked again, Snurri bit back the sob building in her throat.

There wasn't time to fret, Maxir's dark and heavy voice was already at the outer doors speaking with the maids in call to tend their Queen. It was likely the Captain of the Guard's second was on the other side of the palace with the Lady Elect, ordered to protect the expectant mother until the birth of her daughter and would then put the newborn princess into hiding as well. The Lord Elect was almost assuredly right beside the King's General, ready to defend the realm.

Snurri waved a hand, setting up a spell to pack a few essentials for the newborn in a satchel, while the magic did its job, she gathered the princeling up properly. The heavy swaddled were enough to convince the baby to full sleep, ensuring there would be no noise on their journey.

Unfortunately, the Queen did not wake, the King's trick a little too heavy-handed and left her in deep slumber while Snurri left with her child.

Xxx

The Temples, while cool and without a great deal of fire, were a boon as they should be, from the frigidness of the mountain ravines in which they sat. Guarded by two massive stretches of crags and peaks, the deep gorges were both sheltered from winds, and a funnel to their might.

And yet, in all their years, the Temples still stood their tests of the generations.

Currently, they held a few Elders, and even less attendants, those unable to help on the frontlines, or in the medical camps scattered across the realm.

The oldest priest of Langthar lead Snurri and her escort deep into the main building beneath the Temple Spire, the compound of buildings surrounding them supposed to be filled with students and budding teachers. Now it held nothing…those able to wage war had gone to fight, those not had been summoned home to hide.

Now, Snurri stepped into the Chamber of the realm's most precious relic, and the power source the princeling would one day control.

Kneeling beside the stone basin set beneath the relic pedestal, Snurri rearranged the extra furs she's brought to ensure maximum comfort. The princeling stirred a bit when she set him down, keeping him well covered but not smothered in his wraps.

"Sleep my prince, all shall be well. I will return for you soon."

"Snurri! We must go! All wielders are being summoned to the Citadel!"

Hogarn's shout made her tear up again, and Snurri pressed a hasty kiss to the baby's forehead. "May the stars protect you."

Fleeing the Temples, Snurri had to force herself not to look back, shaking off her fears and gripping the heavy sword handed to her. The familiar weight of a Queensguard blade was like stepping back in time, her magic rippled over the weapon and ensconced her body in armor fit for war.

It wouldn't be enough.

Xxx

Shaking, the Queen tried once more to scry in the waters of the crystal basin, pouring every inch of her stuttering magic into the blood swirling among the cold liquid.

Nothing, just like the rest of times she'd begged the stars to reveal what she desired.

Somewhere, in the chaos of the wars, her husband had vanished, likely chasing after whichever Realm Leader had stolen their relic. Now the Queen was almost frantic to find news of her King.

A handmaiden poked her head into the Queen's study, "My lady?"

"Yes Agna?"

"The King is here."

She whirled in a flash, cringing as her aching abdomen protested the movement harshly. A fortnight after giving birth and she still was not completely healed. But, that didn't matter, her husband had returned and together they would raise their child and-

He looked terrible, half his armor missing and deep wounds marring the broad chest she loved to cuddle against to sleep.

"My darling, you are-"

"I have news."

She shook her head, "That can wait darling, send Maxir to the Temples for our child-"

A hand set on her shoulder paused the Queen's rambling, and the King stared down at her with a look of pain.

"The Temples of Langthar are no more, they have been destroyed."

"The relic-"

"Is missing, taken as a war bounty most likely, the Elders are striving to end this Winter for the people-"

"Where is he?"

The King sighed, long and low, "My wife-"

"Where is _he_?"

"The guards are-"

"_Where is he?_!"

Snurri's hands on the Queen's shoulders guided her to the floor, not allowing the monarch to just collapse as her body shaking sobs took over, the King lowered with his wife, holding her tight until she violently lashed out, claws raking across scabbing wounds to reopen them before a burst of magic sent the King careening into the wall.

"My SON! Where is my SON! Bring me my baby!"

Agna tried to aid Snurri, both handmaidens attempting to soothe the roaring Queen as she wailed, "My queen, the Temples were destroyed, nothing remains within, the relic was stolen and perhaps the princeling was taken with it!"

"Where is my baby?!"

"Oh shut it wench!" The King stumbled to his feet, shoving off a guard's aid with a snarl, "The prince is more likely dead, if not buried beneath the ruins of the Temples."

A howl from the Queen was enough to get the King to leave, and she descended into hysterics, crying out for her missing baby. The screams echoed in the palace halls, chasing after the King as he strode away to escape her grief but unable to out run his own.

Someone running caught his attention, and the King had to catch the young girl as she literally slid around the corner, a budding frost mage judging by the sparkling ice beneath her feet.

"My King! Your clan sister! It's a girl!"

He could only stare at the dark haired child, and she shifted nervously before dispelling the ice with a bit of concentration.

The elated smile on her face caved, just in time for the mourning bells to start the dreaded gongs echoing over the Citadel and across the realms.

"My King? A betrothal is now imminent, are you not happy?"

"Laelia," The King crouched to be eye-level with the young girl, setting a blood stained hand on her shoulder, "Go to the Lady, tell her the Lord Elect will return soon. And pass on my blessings for her new daughter."

Laelia dipped in a curtsey, beginning to sprint away again before the King called out again.

"And child!"

She spun back around.

"Tell my clan sister…tell her the betrothal shall be vilji konungsins, will of the king."

While the edict was heavy, Laelia still nodded and took off again, carrying with her the fate of the realm. The King watched her go, knowing his clan sister would be enraged to discover not only would her daughter be forced off the line of succession for the time being-but betrothed to the next heir born of the Queen. With the Crown Prince missing and very likely dead, this could stir the clans into anarchy amongst a war destroyed realm.

The son from the King and Queen would marry the new princess, be it a new child once the Queen mourned, or if the then eldest was actually found by some blessed twist of fate.

Be it what the stars decide, the King would enact his revenge on the Nine Realms, and wreak havoc those stupid enough break their oaths.

It was one thing to remove the Casket from the Temples.

Laufey would personally destroy whoever dared murder his son.

Xxx

Xx

Xxx

_Avengers Compound_

_July 6th, 2023_

_5:48pm_

Xxx

"So she's basically perfect."

Thor snorted, sipping his bottle of water-Loki was happy it wasn't beer or stronger-but the blonde just shook his head, "Not in the slightest."

Loki growled, "A Queen? How many royals in the galaxies have you met in our diplomatic happenings over the centuries? She has the power to siphon strength from others-given or not. Can perform spell casts in the like similar to my own, perhaps stronger as you said. Is capable of traversing the Void with the skills even I do not possess, and-" Shoving Thor lightly to get his full attention, Loki's eyes narrowed, "Brought not only myself back from the dead, but three others whose blood was spilt in the name of a war."

Chuckling a bit darkly, Thor shifted how he was sitting, braced against the railing that edged the rooftops of the Avengers compound where both princes had retreated after slogging through a couple hour long argument with the others, Loki had left first followed by Thor, and the two found solace above the rest.

"She cannot Jump forever, before I knew what she was doing-thinking she had your trick of teleporting-when Katherine would return to Stark Tower after a weekend away, upon arrival would be drained and weak. She's high on lightning, at she was this morning. It will not last long, and her powers flex and flow much like your own. Yes, Kat is powerful, but every power has its limits. Your duplicates brother," Thor gave Loki a proud smile, the one Loki had never seen cross Odin's face, "Your skills in such-she can never match, nor can she shape shift as well as you."

"Magic is an art, not precision, there are bound to be differences-"

"And she is not Queen." Thor turned sad, face pinching in distress, "Not yet if ever, her throne is watched by the Queen Regent, her own mother. But Katherine cannot take the throne without her betrothed, the name on the treaty is not the boy she is tied to, the first son of the King died or is missing, it has not been told. To maintain the agreement, she will marry the younger brother when he is old enough. Until then, she has been fostered out to another realm. One I am assuming we are familiar with, but I do not know which. Loki, she just desires peace for her people, as do I for Asgard. I do not wish to start a war with them, not when I do not know who they are and even if it is limited, she is capable of traversing the stars through the shadows unseen-if she can move an army in such a manner-"

"She would be unstoppable," Loki nodded, "A very diplomatic play brother, how _royal_ of you."

"Politics is your field of play brother," Thor drained the last of his water, tossing the bottle behind himself to gather later, "But yes, I keep her secret from others, and allow her this freedom, and she keeps news of Asgard to herself and away from her mother. Should there come a time when a proper alliance is in hand, I would rather it be on the foundation of friendship between herself and I, rather than disagreements."

Loki couldn't blame him, Asgard-even after the reversal of Thanos' Snap-was not strong enough to hold off a true army. Not of the likes a few other Realms had, or other planets outside of Yggdrasil's reach. To start a war with an army lead by a young Queen with magic…backed by a ruthless regent. Neither Thor nor Loki were that stupid.

Left to his own thoughts, Loki mulled over the information, a noble woman, high born of another realm-in hiding from gods know what and left to live outside of her people while a regent dictates from the throne. As someone who was raised deep inside the myriad of dangers court brought…Loki at least understood Kat's position.

She did what she pleased, working for Stark in and out of the shadows of the Avengers, letting her mother sit on the her throne while in wait for either a death or a marriage. Kat stoked her power like fire, a flame quick to rage but slow to recover if the inferno blazed too high.

On the other hand, Loki was what she said, smoke on mirrors, smoldering from tended coals that radiated heat while smooth as glass. Glass that could reflect, cut, protect-

And shatter…

"I thought he'd truly done it this time."

Thor might have been startled by Loki's sudden words, but his brother wasn't paying attention, instead the long pale fingers brushing against an equally pale throat, a touch feather light that send sparks as sharp as knives to Loki's core.

"I…" Loki swallowed thickly, "I truly thought he had actually killed me this time. Thanos…he…there were days…in his hands, that I begged for death. When longing for the sweetness of pain was too much even then, I clung to the hope something-anything…would be my undoing, a hit-a strike-a lash-a stab…something would just kill me already."

"Loki…" Thor knew, he had been told a summary of Loki's fall into Thanos' hands, instead of stuck in the space outside Asgard's borders-the Void had thrown Loki violently into the Chitauri territory. Thor knew Loki hadn't actually given in as easily as one might think, not when Thanos had promised Asgard's destruction, they both held scars from the Titan, Loki more than others.

"I…I didn't want to," Loki glanced at Thor, unable to hide the tears completely, "Please Thor…I couldn't stop. I'd have rather Thanos kill me, but he wouldn't."

Thor's hand gripped the sorcerer's shoulder tightly, "Loki…the Mind Stone you wielded-"

Shaking his head, Loki was trembling beneath his brother's hand, "I did not, it wielded me. I could manipulate the power of an Infinity Stone, but not control it. I…I recall so little of New York in perfect clarity, even after the beast smashed me into the flooring. The haze of the Stone took time to clear, I do not believe I was truly free of it until those Adamantium shackles had blocked what was left of the power."

"You tell me you were under Thanos' control?"

Loki nodded, rubbing a hand over his face roughly, "Thor I begged for death, and yet I sit beside you, because that girl? That is not possible, that power does not exist. If even dying gave you a few more moments of life with Thanos attacking the ship, I would have succeeded. And yet, death could not hold me…why?"

Shifting a little, Thor didn't immediately answer, lost in thought and staring out over the Compound, when he did speak, Loki heard the years of the warrior and his brother, not of the king in charge moments ago, "I have a feeling that is something Katherine herself must answer, and if what Bruce and the others say are true, then her actions do not come without a price. One which I find myself reluctant to pay."

* * *

**Tada!**

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	10. Chapter 10

_**ENDGAME SPOILERS!**_

_**YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**_

* * *

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! If I did, Tony would be yelling at me.**

**Summary: The scales are unbalanced, they have been for a very long time. And someone is getting pissed off that this keeps happening. So she decides to set things right. Very unconventionally...the Universe is not ready for this...no one is. Undying is a worse fate than torture, making you long for the sweet pain of death.**

**Review Please!**

**MUWHAHAHA! Two chapters!**

* * *

**Chapter Ten  
**

Xxx

"So…let me get this straight…"

Romanoff groaned, waving a hand at Thor to keep the blonde from getting up. After jumping down off the roof-all the kids had thought that was amazingly hilarious-both Thor and Loki had interrupted a stony silent dinner. Loki had grabbed a plate of food and retreated to the infirmary to join Heimdall and Brilid for a meal, leaving Thor to explain what his brother had said.

That was two hours ago, and now Natasha was almost envious of Loki who wasn't one of the team spread out somewhere in the common area, trying to discuss this new information.

If Loki was telling the truth, and actually under mind control during the Chitauri Invasion and everything in 2012, then it held a lot of weight in moving forward.

Half the team were starting to put the pieces together, the other half-Barton especially-were not as satisfied.

Natasha didn't blame them, it was far-fetched to begin with. But…Tony had hours of surveillance footage, of both Barton and Selvig under the influence of the scepter. Plus a handful of others, hours of camera angles with clear shots of the glassy-blue eyed people, the haze of the stone vibrant under a camera filter to detect radiations that react to light. Every one of them, showed forty-five to seventy-three percent optical infrared distortion.

Loki's eyes on the surveillance feeds varied between eighty-nine and ninety-six percent, until the Tower scans from the half hour after the Battle. All scans showed levels below twelve percent.

"Barton for the hundredth time-"

"No Tony!"

Rogers sighed, rubbing at his eyes in frustration before Barnes kicked his chair to get him to stop. "Clint, the facts are right there-"

"Are they?" Clint flipped through the files, enlarging and scanning over Loki's with intense focus, "Not only is Loki a well-known liar and manipulator, but Thor and several others can confirm he can shapeshift and change his looks without a thought."

"There is that," Banner pinched the bridge of his nose, having set his glasses aside half an hour ago, having given up on them, "Plus…memory damage that big? That would cause extensive personality discrepancies, memory recall problems, massive cognitive impairment on varied levels…Thor I get it…you want to find a some level of good in your brother…something for redemption…but there might not be-"

Thor growled, standing from the lounge chair he'd been slumped in and stomping to the table and adjusting the screens to show a clear shot of Loki's entire face, approximately fifteen minutes after he'd arrived on Earth in 2012.

"Barton…I will be honest with you, there is part of me that Banner is correct about, I do wish something in my brother is capable of being who I once knew, but that part of me has been damaged over and over again. What I do know," Thor flipped the image around to face Barton, "Is my brother…has had green eyes, of the purest emerald, for all the centuries I have known him. _That_ is not my brother."

Natasha leaned up, rubbing at her own eyes to get refocused, after being slumped sideways in her chair and on the table, "Clint…stop. Regroup, that image is of a potential mark. Pause, assess, observe, question, and evaluate. Sit-rep on target."

With a low sigh, Clint did, stepping back and turning from the images entirely, Thor remained quiet when Barton returned to face the table, trained eyes scanning the images displayed, once in a rare while adjusting the files before he leaned away finally.

"Damn…"

"Mhm," Romanoff watched Barton's face, the sympathy etched there hardened by years of practice and the desire for justice, "None of us saw it then,"

"Saw what?"

Clearing his throat to keep a straight face, Clint highlighted one image, "Torture, pupils dilated, breathing ragged, heart rate likely erratic, perspiration along temples suggesting high fever or pain, veins are visible suggesting high blood pressure on top of the gaunt appearance and paleness. There's indentations on lower wrist-suggesting further concealed damage, bruising around eyes and lips-"

"Enough."

Thor's tone was soft, but serious, cutting off Barton's observations, a second look…that's all that was needed, for everything Loki had done in 2012, it still was overshadowed by the absolute mess he was in when he arrived.

"That kind of pain would make anyone break…if Loki is telling the truth…holding out for months and then giving in just a week before New York, no wonder the stone had so much power. And why it was so hard for any of us to tell."

Banner was backed up by Tony before Barton could speak, "Months under that kind of pain…to hold on like that, you don't come out the same-none of us saw that, especially you Thor, you just saw the anger and desperation you took as madness."

Glancing at Stark, Thor stared and didn't reply.

"Can we verify what he says?" Barnes broke the silence first, getting everyone to stop mulling in thought and focus on the issue. "You've all said he's the god of lies, Silver tongue in legends, can we verify this information in the here and now-not just in videos and pictures?"

When no one else spoke, Romanoff turned to Clint, staring until he got it, "Oh hell no!"

"Providence."

"Nat. No."

Her eyebrow rose in contest, and Clint still shook his head, at least until she narrowed her eyes, "Got a better idea?"

"Call Strange?"

Xxx

Loki wasn't entirely sure how the hell he ended up on a Quinjet at two in the morning, he'd been dead asleep for the first time in a couple weeks, a sleep without drugs. And then Thor and someone else had ripped him from his bed and dragged him to the plane. His hands managed to buckle the straps, but after that Loki was honestly too tired and muddled to think, dozing until the plane was in the air and the other Avengers were in their respective places.

It took someone dropping a coffee cup, the ceramic shattering on the metal floor, for Loki to stir enough to pay attention.

Thor was staring at him, and likely saw what Loki felt-drained magical exhaustion, nothing within Loki's veins to give him a boost. Kat might not have actually taken anything from him, siphon she was, but that didn't mean Loki wasn't exhausted from having no power to begin with, and then getting shocked and seared by powers that should have only tickled.

"Are you alright brother?"

Loki shrugged, staring blankly into air, "I have been worse."

Thor's brow furrowed, "You really are not meant to be without your magic…are you?"

Again a shrug was his response, and Loki took a moment to speak, "I can survive, it takes time to grow used to the holes."

"Can it be brought back?"

Glancing to his brother, Loki rolled his eyes, "If I knew why the power is gone, I could perhaps undo this, but I am as unknown to the loss as you are."

Thor grunted, nodding slightly and appearing to lose interest, Loki didn't let his thoughts wander long, turning fully with a stifled yawn, "Where are we going Thor?"

"You mean, why were you woken up?"

"And dragged onto a plane, strapped in, and going for a ride to an unknown location?" Loki's tone was snarkier than intended, but it made Thor meet the green eyes, both exhausted for different reasons.

Romanoff answered instead from where she sat with Maximoff and Wilson, "We're getting you tested, a lie detector designed for the best liars on Earth."

Loki's brow quirked again, "Even you?"

She grinned, "Even me."

The scoff Loki let out was followed by wry grin, "And what are you asking the truth in, Lady Romanoff?"

Natasha just grinned wider.

Xxx

Xx

Xxx

_Providence Base_

_July 7th, 2023_

_05:02am_

Xxx

When the quinjet taxied into the underground hangar, Loki was woken up from another half-assed sleep, mostly a weak doze to pass the time when no further answers came clear. Before he was allowed out of the plane, Barton and Romanoff left first, either to scout this hidden base, or to meet with whoever was occupying it. Thor was the one to escort Loki with Rogers and Wilson, the level of secrecy was likely getting on Loki's nerves.

Not that Tony really cared, he'd have rather bugged Dr. Strange or few others to get the answers needed, not go traipsing across the continent to a hidden base formerly in SHIELD control. But, this was discrete, hidden, and easily accessible for the team's SHIELD assassins. Barnes was along for the ride, and had been voted the mediator seeing as everyone except Wilson and Barnes had personal history with the God of Mischief.

But Wilson also held a bit stronger loyalty to New York than Barnes did, and admitted he wouldn't remain objective.

Stark didn't care, he was too busy watching his StarkPad and the scan relays Friday was giving him from Barton's and Romanoff's gear, and a couple drones he had sent in through the ventilation.

"That won't be necessary Mr. Stark."

Looking up, Tony had to smile, Maria Hill standing against the doorway into the rest of the top secret spy base they were not-so-secretly breaking into.

Though was it breaking into the place if two people had keys?

"Agent Hill! How's it hangin'?

She quirked an eyebrow, glancing over Tony's shoulder to where Loki had been paused at her appearance.

"Care to explain?"

Tony snorted, "What? You and Fury didn't notice the Wizard of Oz was at the Compound?"

"Director Fury and I were well aware of Loki's whereabouts, what we did not expect was your team removing him from the premises to bring to top security clearance facility-"

"And why not?" Tony scoffed, smirking devilishly when Clint and Natasha returned from their scouting, "You let Barton in well enough."

Neither Clint nor Hill commented, Natasha was even more stone faced than usual, but Tony didn't get the chance to keep being a smart ass.

"Loki."

The god smirked, "Good to see you Sif."

She didn't smile back, but she did step aside, and Tony wasn't sure who to be more shocked over, the Asgardian warrior, or…

Thor almost stumbled forward, in pure shock when he tried to speak, "Son of-"

"Mr. Stark, good to see you."

He couldn't help it, Tony was openly gaping. Luckily, or very…very…VERY…unluckily…

Loki was there to break the tension, "Didn't I kill you?"

Phil Coulson just smiled, "You did, I lived."

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**Short and Sweet and Awesome! Please review!**


	11. Chapter 11

_**ENDGAME SPOILERS!**_

_**YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**_

* * *

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! If I did, Tony would be yelling at me.**

**Summary: The scales are unbalanced, they have been for a very long time. And someone is getting pissed off that this keeps happening. So she decides to set things right. Very unconventionally...the Universe is not ready for this...no one is. Undying is a worse fate than torture, making you long for the sweet pain of death.**

**Review Please!**

**To _ildemonevanga:_ Thank you for the fave and follow!  
**

**To Guest: Thank you! I wanted to address your concerns, with your critique I saw exactly what you meant and figured out how to make her a stronger character without her being a Mary-Sue. It worked out great! OOOOOOO I love your theories! I can neither confirm nor deny them yet, as that's really not any fun. But I love how you're noticing details! Hang on to your ideas and keep reading! Thank you so much and I hope you like this one too!**

* * *

**Chapter Eleven  
**

Xxx

_Providence Base_

_July 7th, 2023_

_07:03am_

Xxx

"Okay…so, this one sends the sharp electrical current through the chair to fry his brains out right?"

"_What_?!"

"Bucky!"

Barnes snorted, barely stifling a laugh as Steve glared at him from the other side of the console, Romanoff was busy strapping Thor's brother into the chair and with his sudden jerking had to reset multiple diodes and relays.

"Hold still."

Loki growled softly, but shifted his body accordingly to her directions to connect the monitors, he'd agreed to go through the lie detector exam. Not because, and Barnes had been there, Loki was hiding thing, the black haired Asgardian had made a wager with Romanoff on whether or not he could beat her results. They'd purposefully set up a question and answer to catch a lie, everything else would be scoured for real data.

As it was, Barnes didn't miss the slight shift in Loki's gaze when Romanoff moved from the diode pad relays to the restraints. One on each wrist, bicep, ankle, upper calf, mid torso-with flex for breathing, and a-

"Agent Romanoff, a moment if you will."

Natasha did pause, letting Loki turn to look at her before she buckled the collar into place, her eyebrow rose in question as did Steve's, Barnes just rolled his eyes.

"Is it possible to complete the testing, without the…" Loki didn't hide his hesitation as well as he probably wanted to, "The collar? Or must it be in place for the results?"

Tilting her head, Romanoff shrugged, but swung the bracket away, "No, just two more pads along the sides of your neck, the adhesive might cause discomfort later with the residue, but it's just a mild skin irritation."

"I would prefer that method, if it the same to you." Loki said softly, earning a slight nod before Natasha prepped the two pads, hand reaching to place them.

None of them missed Loki flinching violently.

"I won't touch you until you say so."

If it weren't for being super soldiers, neither Steve nor Barnes would have heard that, but Loki wasn't paying attention, barely nodding but allowing Romanoff to tilt his jaw up with one hand and place the sticky pads with the other.

Once in place, Loki cracked his neck, swallowing to test the flex of the adhesive. He didn't react when Natasha completed her doings, including a strap that rested across his forehead. In total it was a five minute set up.

Between Romanoff activating all the monitors and properly starting the system, and Barnes studying her every move to ensure he knew what was going on, it was two minutes and eighteen seconds before Rogers and Romanoff had to actually leave.

Barnes watched them go, before turning back to Loki, the god staring back him blankly.

"You are aware they are going to watch everything on separate monitors?"

Loki shrugged, "That does not surprise me, rather it would be a surprise if they didn't."

Smirking, Barnes setup the transcript of questions he'd been given, and the blank spaces to interject his own thoughts as necessary and judged appropriate. The baseline accentuating queries had been written by Thor and the Heimdall guy Barnes hadn't really met yet, but suffice to say everyone else was trusting those explicitly. Plus with an ear piece linked back to the team in another room, Barnes had an objective set before him that was likely to be an interesting challenge.

And the sergeant was nothing, if not efficient, in his missions.

"Ready?"

"Indeed."

Xxx

_Fifteen minutes prior_

Xxx

Shock was the precursor to the blow out. Confusion and anger bled into jealousy in some aspects, regret in others, while the main standing was incredulous relief and…

Stunned irritation.

It was one thing for Thor's…essentially his army's second in command by promotion via others' deaths…to be in hiding with SHIELD agents, Stark had met Melinda May once and was glad she wasn't at the base currently, Hill was more than enough. Lady Sif wasn't well known by the Avengers, just what Thor had told them in passing tales. Her immediate animosity to Loki and willingness to go so far as to fight Thor to get at his brother, even being told that the blonde was her king and no longer a prince wasn't enough to stop her.

Not until Coulson and Thor had dragged her back, the latter screaming at her to obey while the former demanded answers.

Much like everyone else, too many questions.

Half the team yelled at Coulson for being alive-partially in wonder-but the majority was yelling about the lies, the trickery, and the blatant manipulation of SHIELD to get the team to do as they were bid.

A team can fight the world…hell even the universe, on the outside, but not when there are those on the inside meaning to tear apart its members with the very bonds holding things in place.

Thor knew this all too well, military commanders who had been twisted with power or worse paid off by the enemies, to turn their own men against one another, deliberately sabotaging strategies and playing with inner knowledge best left alone. A prince who had seen his share of battles, and even a war that lead to a bitter end when the side Asgard backed managed to take out the internal spy ring within their allied ranks-extracting enough information to overcome the enemy…Thor was used to secrets and tricks, not all of them from Loki.

The now-king understood where his team was angered, he felt it too. He also knew fighting amongst one another, while there were larger contenders to concern themselves with, was not an answer they could afford to accept.

A glance around the large office area they were in, multiple computer screens showing different angles of the Lie-Detector testing room Loki was currently in, and Thor found what he needed.

Under normal circumstances, he would never dare do this, but Thor wasn't in the mood for drawing anything out, nor did he have the patience. So instead of being diplomatic, a voice of reason, someone to calm the storm in the madness and ensuing argument…

Thor let his lightning loose, zapping a lightbulb hard enough it shattered, but did no further damage to the rest of the hidden base.

At the crackling of sparks and crinkled glass, the noise died down, letting Thor glare at them all in turn.

"You bitch amongst yourselves like children," Thor snapped, "For what? Lies and tricks, what else would you expect? You call yourselves SHIELD only to hide behind what you call protection for more lies. The Avengers…our fights are to end what others have started. And Sif…you have been missing from Asgard too long."

Thor looked them over, glaring at any who dared look less than contrite, it was not a challenge, but a fact, "We cannot fight, I know I wish to do so as well. But our enemy is not within these walls."

He turned, gaze locking on the test room where Rogers and Romanoff were leaving finally, "Our enemy is outside," Thor's voice dropped to almost a growl, "And her name is Death."

Xxx

_07:12am_

Xxx

"_Please state your name."_

_"Loki."_

_"Please state your full name and title."_

_"God of Mischief and Lies, Prince of Asgard, Chief of the Lordswood in the Southern Region of Vanaheim, Odinson._"

Barnes paused, but kept going, "_Please repeat your full name_."

Loki sighed, the crackle of air on the microphone blowing static through the audio feed, _"Loki…Laufeyson…by birth, Odinson by claim_."

Tony almost didn't turn to look at Thor, but the god wasn't even reacting, staring at the monitors displaying the exam video feed intently.

_"What is your hair color?"_

_"Black."_

_"What is your eye color?"_

_"Green."_

Barton winced, but did give Thor a look of conceding the fight, nodding in understanding.

_"State your planet of origin._"

Again Loki hesitated, but the vital readings rolling across the bottom of the video only fluctuated with mild anxiety, not deception, _"Jotunheim, by birth, Asgard by residence."_

Sif was the only one in the room who reacted, she shifted with a fighter's tension, but Tony just glanced at her to ensure her hands stayed off the sword strapped to her side.

_"State your age."_

_"I…"_ Loki's brow furrowed, and one of the alarms pulsed in warning but not an actual alert, "_In Midgardian years? That…one-thousand and…sixty?"_

_"That was not a statement."_ Barnes' assessment was met with a blank look, and Loki shrugged in the chair.

_"Your years pass dissimilarly to Asgard, I cannot accurately answer that._"

Barnes paused again, taping a switch to get direction from the rest of them.

Turning to Thor, Romanoff held up the microphone. The blonde looked puzzled for a moment, but nodded.

"I would have to consult Heimdall or Brilid, but that is as close as I can discern as well."

Natasha tapped the speaker button, "It's good Barnes."

Nodding on screen, he continued.

_"Is this your natural state?"_

_"I beg your pardon?"_

_"Yes or no answer please."_

Loki's jaw worked for a moment, and he visibly tensed, Natasha almost spoke into the main speaker to get him to calm down when the god growled, _"Yes."_

Not only did the vitals fluctuate, the actual scanner beeped. Romanoff buzzed the communications link to tell Barnes to ask again.

"Please repeat your answer."

Thor growled this time, "Loki…don't…"

"_Yes."_

Natasha buzzed again.

_"I will repeat the question, is this your natural state? Yes or no?_"

Loki tensed further, but before Natasha could speak over Barnes, the god visibly deflated, looking away from the sergeant conducting the test, _"No."_

_"Care to elaborate."_

_"Not particularly."_

_"Is your natural state considered a-"_

_"I'm_ BLUE!"

That did make Barnes fully stop, looking up abruptly before tapping the button.

Natasha murmured for him to wait a moment, giving Loki time to stop breathing erratically, and for her to turn to Thor entirely.

The God of Thunder was rubbing the bridge of his nose, looking anything but pleased, but he did nod when Clint questioned him.

"Loki is not Asgardian, his appearance is a glamour."

Sif shifted on her feet, "I thought this was a private matter of the royal family."

"It was until Loki through a disguise of the Allfather relayed a rather glorified version of Loki's history."

Any response was cut off by Barnes going forward in the test, looking at Loki directly.

_"You good?"_

_"Yes. Oh gods Stark heard that."_

_"Yeah, and?"_

Loki glared a bit, _"I'd prefer his nicknames about my helmet over coloring."_

Tony chuckled, "Smurf it is, in extreme sit-"

Thor growled again, "Stark-"

Natasha shushed them both.

Barnes had to hide his smirk, _"Alright. Name your immediate…shit…name immediate family, parents-siblings-spouses-children."_

The look of pain didn't set off the monitors, and that at least earned a low sigh from Clint as Loki sighed heavily, his voice shook but was steady enough to get proper relays.

_"Laufey…birth father, I…do not know the name of his bride at the time, or if any other children were beget of them. Odin and…" Loki tensed, "Frigga…and Thor….I…Angrboda is the…dam…of my…"_

Loki trailed off, swallowing thickly. Barnes let him have a moment, before speaking.

_"Please name-"_

_"I know."_ Loki's hands balled into fists, eyes closing tightly before he had to force himself to relax enough the machine stopped beeping, "_Sleipnir, Fenris, Hella, Jormungand."_ The answer came out in a panicked rush, and Loki was out of air by the time was done, visibly shaking.

Barnes reached forward, turning off the microphone in the room for a moment, Loki on screen gulped for air, but nodded after several seconds. Flipping the microphone back on, Barnes double-tapped the button to tell the Team to trust him.

Natasha didn't bother replying, she was too busy holding onto Clint's sleeve to keep him still.

_"Did you at any time, attempt to kill Thor?"_

Loki chuckled, a smile cracking his visage for the first time a couple hours, "_Intentionally? No, I have stabbed him multiple times, but none have proved fatal nor were they intended as such."_

_"How so?"_

_"Dagger between the eighth and ninth rib, bloody mess that scabs over quickly but is more annoying than debilitating, let alone fatal."_

Thor groaned softly, "For the love of…"

"He telling the truth, Point Break?"

Nodding to Tony, Thor tapped his side, "None such wounds have ever even left scars on my body, it's a favorite spot of his."

Sif snorted, "Injuring a royal-"

"Sif, be silent."

Thor's snap muddled Barnes telling Loki they were continuing with the questioning, but at least the first few were mutually known statements about the Tesseract and his initial arrival to Earth.

Any question that apparently was out of Loki's memory, was met with all clear signs, no lie detected. On top of Thanos being behind New York, something Loki named as The Other was a big piece of the Chitauri Invasion, a right hand to the Mad Titan while the Black Order was the other side of his forces.

Loki hadn't ever met Nebula or Gamora in person, but he had heard Nebula's screams, and he assumed they knew of him as a few 'sessions' had been made spectacles to vast numbers of Thanos' forces.

Ten more questions, detailing similar things, made the table Thor was leaning against crack and groan under his tight grip.

Eight more virtually cleared Loki's name as descriptions of the Mind Stone's effects were given and verified.

Three more queries, the answers listing how long it took for Loki to pull out of the control-first was the Hulk, second was the Thor in the Tower later, and third was the shackles…

Sent Thor out of the room. Coulson was kind enough to stop Sif from following, and Tony was grateful when Steve copied the billionaire.

The god made it to a back storage room, cleared out of whatever had once occupied the space, but blank other than a few metal shelves and cement walls reinforced by steel. Thor's fist punched through the cinder blocks in four hits.

"Easy Point Break-"

"Thor just take a breath-" Steve's hands had been held up to placate the Asgardian, instead they swung out to block the piece of shelving that went flying and almost hit the two men.

It took Thor almost completely destroying the room to calm down enough to look at them, or at least turn around. He was openly in tears, breathing ragged as he stumbled towards them.

"I did nothing!"

"Thor-"

"My brother! Was tortured Captain! _Tortured_! And I did nothing!"

"You couldn't have known-"

Thor roared back, "I didn't even bother to-"

Tony winced, activating a wrist gauntlet and balling it into a fist, "Sorry big guy…"

At least he stopped when a fist collided with his jaw, and Thor nearly toppled over with how unsteady he was, finally collapsing to sit on the mangled frame of a shelf, "Stark-"

"You couldn't have known Thor," Tony held up a hand when he tried to protest, "No, listen, you had no idea. No one did. The bastard who did all that…is dead. That's not the problem here-"

"Tony-" Rogers was interrupted, Tony nudging him none too gently in the ribs.

"Look Thor," Tony crouched down in front of the god, resting a hand on his knee, "Listen to me…your brother is going to come out of that room, wrung out, tired, and probably looking to either blow something up-or run. He needs you to be the strong one right now. No one wants all their secrets laid bare, not in front of the guys who want them dead especially. I can't guarantee what the rest of the team will say, but I don't put the blame on Loki. Not like this. You can't put the blame on yourself either, capiche?"

Thor nodded, sighing heavily before clambering to his feet, when he glanced around at the wreckage he caused from bent frames and shelves to the cracks and holes in the walls, Tony just shrugged it off.

"Dude, pretty sure I own this base, I don't care and neither will anyone else."

Xxx

Steve wasn't surprised Stark was right about Loki, the man spoke from experience. A past the Captain knew in pure secreted confidence from Rhodey after a bad night at the Tower had lead Rogers finding out Stark's nightmares were more violent than he joked off most mornings after when confronted.

Tony knew that Steve knew, he was probably aware most of the team were privy to such information. But like a lot of things, the Avengers didn't always talk about their pasts.

Either way, Steve knew to stay back when Thor and them met Loki in the hangar, Barnes trailing behind silently. The god looked like he'd been put through the wringer, exhausted even further than he was before, pale and shaking, and barely seemed to have the strength to meet Thor's gaze.

When he did, Steve had to remind himself not to interfere when Loki tried to all out slug his adopted brother.

Loki swung wildly, and Thor blocked that strike and two more, letting the shorter of the two get a couple solid blows in before parrying another swing and yanking Loki into his arms. If Loki had the power to fight, Rogers wasn't sure if he actually would have. It took two minutes before Loki wrapped his arms around Thor tightly, clinging to him and letting Thor tuck his head to the blonde's neck to conceal.

Neither moved, and Loki didn't make a sound, but Thor never let up on his tight-_safe_-hold.

Xxx

"I will have to take the summary of results to Fury, but I can whole heartedly say. Loki will be absolved of all crimes."

Coulson's statement was met with mixed results, Sif didn't look very amused, and Wilson was just blank. Between Stark, Rhodes, Rogers, and Romanoff-there were varying levels of contentment and acknowledgement. Barnes and Wanda didn't say anything, and Barton…was out the room before anyone could do anything.

Maria Hill was the one to close the door behind his abrupt departure, turning to the rest of the team with her arms crossed, "Might I remind you Mr. Stark that you were still the one to authorize the international border crossing with a known planetary terrorist-"

Stark groaned, grabbing a bottle of alcohol off the office desk to pour himself a glass, he passed off the drink to Romanoff, settling into a chair with a huff, "And here we go…still think unrestricted accountability is a good idea Rogers? Here's what it gets you," Stark glared at Hill, already having spotted her hidden camera an hour ago, "Very cranky people who get mad if you step outside the sandbox and don't share your toys."

Xxx

Barton was at the moment, a cross between moving silently, and making enough noise not to startle those on his approach. He'd paced a couple hallways first, but eventually made it to the hangar again, pausing when he saw the Quinjet ramp open and the interior lights on low. It took verbal commands for the lighting to change, especially when the jet was not in use or prep stage.

Thor didn't seem to notice Clint approaching, he likely had known since the archer had stepped into the hangar, just wasn't acknowledging it. Once Clint stepped up the ramp enough to truly see inside the jet, it was obvious why.

While Thor had been able to smash the interior of a room to refocus-plus Tony punching the god, Loki hadn't gotten even a minute. Barnes and Natasha had disconnected the chair and test leads, and then Loki had come to hangar and Thor. Half an hour later, and the dark-haired god was heaving violently into a bucket set between his legs while Thor steadied him.

Loki looked wrecked, pale and shaking when Barton stepped onto the jet entirely and sat across from the brothers. The green eyes were dull and exhausted when they flicked up, but Loki didn't appear to have the energy to care he had a witness, panting when he sat up before leaning against Thor's side. The blonde braced him there, holding Loki close without being restraining in anyway.

"Side effect of the test?"

Thor shook his head, hand rubbing up and down Loki's arm when the green eyes fell shut, face tight in pain, "This has been coming for some time, Loki's magic…it is as much a part of him as blood in his veins. While overuse can cause problems, complete lack-"

"Is just like removing an organ and hoping the body doesn't go into shock."

Barton's guess earned a nod from Thor, and a grunt from Loki, "Not quite Agent Barton, with an organ it can be replaced if the circumstances are met properly. Nothing can replace this, I can adjust to the loss-" Loki stiffened, jaw tight as he tried to remain still, the rapid swallowing gave away his nausea that somehow remained under control, "But it does take time, and is not easy…"

Nodding himself, Clint stood and grabbed a water bottle from one of the overhead bins, handing it to Loki without ever changing his expression, "Anything make it easier to handle?"

Taking a slow sip and trying not to bring it back up, Loki shrugged, looking awkward against Thor's shoulder, "Other than more magic to attempt to wean off its affects? Not particularly, this is more of a nasty withdrawal that will either right itself of kill me. I haven't decided which outcome is preferable."

Thor glared, but was ignored, and Barton just snorted softly, "Well…I can say this Loki, you may be a pain in the ass, but I don't want you dead."

* * *

**Tada!**

**Reviews feed the Muse!**


	12. Chapter 12

_**ENDGAME SPOILERS!**_

_**YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**_

* * *

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! If I did, Tony would be yelling at me.**

**Summary: The scales are unbalanced, they have been for a very long time. And someone is getting pissed off that this keeps happening. So she decides to set things right. Very unconventionally...the Universe is not ready for this...no one is. Undying is a worse fate than torture, making you long for the sweet pain of death.**

**Review Please!**

**To _Booksbear:_ Thank you for the fave and follow!  
**

**To Guest: Please don't be sad...I'm so bad at updating...Loki shall prevail! Don't worry! Thank you so much and I hope you keep checking for more and find this! Here's TWO!  
**

* * *

**Chapter Twelve  
**

Xxx

_United States Airspace_

_July 7th, 2023_

_11:48am_

Xxx

The quinjet was much noisier on the return to the compound, once the Avengers had settled down enough to actually leave. Loki hadn't cared, managing to doze off again for over an hour into the flight. At that point he'd been woken up by Stark's sharp laughing and the radiating ache in his own head.

Thor at least understood, letting Loki remain slumped against his side for the heat and support.

While Loki had actually managed to cause a fatal wound to the SHIELD agent, human ingenuity-or stupidity, depending on who was asked-had managed to save Phil Coulson at a high price. Loki didn't get all the information, he suspected even if the Avengers and SHIELD operatives they were in contact with took the testimony given via the lie-detector, he would still be under restrictions-physical and informational-as he had been.

Before this morning, Loki was allowed in three rooms without having to tell FRIDAY his intent, besides his assigned bedroom and Thor's own…the common area with the kitchen was the only other area Loki could be without worrying about someone else being upset. With two super soldier humans, two gods, two Asgardians in and out of the infirmary, and counting the rest of the team, the private team kitchen was never off limits to anyone. The main building cafeteria and the secondary Avenger common area had yet to be shown to Loki, let alone be given access to.

On top of restricted areas, Loki wasn't allowed to join Thor in his now daily workouts, and he especially hadn't been given back the daggers he'd had on his person at the time of his arrival to Midgard. No training or practicing.

Not that movement was high on Loki's list of priorities, not when pain varied from on the fringes of his thoughts to nearly incapacitating. But the thought of even a bit of freedom, stepping outside a compound door without setting off an alarm if not accompanied by another Avenger…Loki wouldn't mind that.

Nor would he mind actual answers, none had been given when the rest of Thor's team had gathered on the jet. Bare minimum facts had been discussed about the base they had left, a hidden location meant in events of emergencies, but used to determine loyalties with the test.

Romanoff owed Loki a bottle of aged rum, she thought when he'd been prepared and deliberately lied, the machine wouldn't catch it and it would blow the test. The question had been simple, what color was Thor's cape. Loki had purposefully answered gold, and the test lit up like fireworks. If there was magic involved, Loki might have been able to trick the test, but right now there was nothing to hide what the body could tell unseen.

Or tell seen to the bare eye, like Loki was currently displaying when the jet finally landed, groaning audibly at the harsh jostle. Thor had to stir his brother from a haze, not sleep, but enough of lost focus it wasn't until the jet was nearly empty that Loki could think enough to stand.

Not at all how he wanted to start his day…no matter how late it was in the morning. But Loki hadn't had true choice over his actions in a while.

Thor guided him from the jet, mumbling something about food before a bed, Loki couldn't agree more, he'd even ignore Romanoff's debt if it meant the others would him leave him alone.

That was the plan when Loki and Thor left the jet, it wasn't the plan when they made it to the common area.

Not when a zombie…thing was caught in sparking-gold whips, held by Dr. Strange; and crackling-white chains that shackled the rotting limbs in place, controlled by Katherine.

Xxx

Steve stood stock still, radiating anger, and he knew he was projecting that. Arms crossed, shoulders tense, face grim. Even if Kat hadn't worked for Stark and the team for almost a decade now, she would easily know the Captain was not amused with her.

Not that she cared, sitting at the end of the main table, ankles crossed and feet propped up on the furniture, she lounged back as if she wasn't controlling a wildly maniacal thing that didn't seem impeded by its bonds.

Still in the fitted leather gear, she was dressed similarly to Sif in the armored breastplate and gauntlets. Her boots covered dark leggings to her knees, multiple straps of knife sheaths layering the rest. A tunic padded the armor and fell to midthigh with studded slits for ease of movement. Kat's dark sleeves hid more knives most likely, but the collar wasn't tall enough to truly hide her throat. The only part of her that flexed with her actions, her hands frozen in her lap and holding her chin, her throat twitched and moved with her magic.

But while Sif, having accompanied them for her loyalty to Thor, was dressed to guard and potentially fight…Kat was prepped for hunting.

"Didn't think you'd come back."

"Captain you have never once presumed to know what I do." Kat didn't turn her head, eyes locked on the squirming thing she must have brought back with her, Strange didn't look like he'd been in a fight, more likely called by FRIDAY while the quinjet was in transit.

Steve growled, "I would have thought you were smart enough not to bring a threat back to-"

"Nothing is a threat," Kat's tone remained level, not rising like Steve's did, even if nearly everyone had a weapon drawn and either aimed at or prepared to strike the creature, "Threats are what you make them. I have fixed meals for your team for years and you never took that as a challenge to your safety."

"Food doesn't try to kill us Kat."

Barton snorted, bow knocked and drawn, "Ever heard of poison Cap?"

Before Rogers could answer, Thor stepped around him, Stormbreaker in his hand and armor coating his body like a glove, "Katherine…why did you bring this creature? And where did you bring it from?"

Kat shrugged, "A threat is only dangerous if it is unknown. It's easier to learn if you can see what it hiding in the shadows."

"You brought this…" Loki growled, waving a hand at the struggling creature as he paced towards the woman, "This _monster_ from the Void?"

Burning jade eyes met Loki's smoldering emerald, and Kat's tone darkened when she responded, "You have no idea Princeling,_ I am_ the monster in the Void."

Xxx

Tony wasn't really amused with Rogers calling him for help, but when he'd been dropped off at the lake house after Providence, Stark had enjoyed his two hours with Morgan while Pepper took a conference call for SI and worked around the house without a little one underfoot. Then Rogers had called on Banner's request, asking for Tony to help figure out what in the hell Kat had brought for them to check out.

So, Tony packed up Morgan again, letting her hang out with Wanda and Rhodey, while Romanoff and Pepper worked with Hill on checking resources and security measures. Banner, Strange, Stark, and Sif were currently in the lab farthest away from the residential halls. Thor and Loki stood with Rogers and Barnes in the observation deck above the lab, Wilson and Barton on monitors in another area of the compound.

Once the thing had been…sedated…ish…Kat had disappeared. Most likely finding a room to crash in as she always did after a jump.

She could be back to fight in seconds, but Tony didn't really care that Kat was off sleeping, he cared about the black and grey corpse strapped onto a lab table.

Strange's spell of paralysis was enough to keep the creature down, allowing the magic whips and chains to vanish once it was restrained and set up under multiple scanners. Stark was more concerned with whether or not the spell would hold or would they have to set the thing on fire.

This was the third thing Kat had tried to bring back, the other two she ended up having to burn to avoid getting injured in the process.

It was a zombie…rotted flesh with gaping wounds that had festered and shrunken back from bones, the tendons wiry and gross in the holes. What was left of the skin was leathery and dry, the original color long gone and moldy blood bruising what wasn't cut or scarred. This one didn't look like a decomposed Chitauri, Stark didn't recognize the thing and neither did anyone else. Natasha was putting out a hail to the Guardians-somewhere nearby since Loki was alive, and a call to Danvers for information, Wakanda was sending Princess Shuri over tomorrow for her own scans without trying to transport the thing that just wouldn't die without fire.

Computer readouts listed humanoid physiology, a dead and inactive internal organ system similar to humans, but bulked more towards high fat processing and sustaining itself on low nutritional value. Highly efficient in that the thing could run on little to no water or food. At least when it was alive…now it needed nothing that Tony could tell.

Strange flicked through FRIDAY's scans, his back to Stark until the billionaire stepped around to see what the doctor and sorcerer was examining. Footage from the other thing that had attacked Kat was in a side by side with images of the current zombie in the lab.

"See anything Doc?"

Shaking his head, Strange looked to Tony through the holo-images, eyes sharp as they roamed back to the pictures, "Anderson appeared just before dawn, in a field eight miles from here with enough of a magical signature she set off alarms at the Hong Kong Sanctum let alone New York." Strange waved a hand at the unconscious thing, "That was trying to choke her while she was struggling to either do the same or set it on fire while it was on top of her."

"I never said she was the smart one."

The look Strange threw at Stark was not amused, and neither was Sif, "She works for you and has little intelligence Man of Iron?" The warrior scoffed, "She is no better hiding behind her tricks and shadows than-"

"Uh oh…"

Banner's mutter earned three sets of eyes turning on him in an instant, then locked on the squirming thing on the table.

While still sluggish and uncoordinated from the paralysis, the zombie wasn't going to stay down long, already making the restraints whine to remain locked.

"Hey doc…"

Strange just growled, hands whipping out a refresher for the spell. The glow settled into the body but did little to settle the creature.

Grumbling as well, Tony tapped a few controls on the table, injecting the body with a sedative strong enough to drop even Thor in a coma.

Four minutes

That's all the drug was able to give them before the creature started thrashing again, this time more violently than before.

"_Stark_."

"What Loki?"

"_I would suggest reinforcing those restraints, at the bare minimum locking down that room_."

Tony grunted, nodding at the intercom's crackle before tapping more commands into the table to lock down fresh straps, "FRIDAY lock down the lab, let Romanoff and Barton know in case of evac."

"_Got it Boss_."

With Bruce guiding Sif to back up, and the nanotechnology already encasing Tony's body, even Strange was wary enough to pull up a shield when the first strap cracked from the strain.

"What the fuck…how is this thing still going? There's not even mass for that-"

The gold whip cracked out, lashing the flailing arm back to the table. Strange growled out a curse, straining to bind the arm again even with Tony throwing himself forward to use the suit's power to pin the limb.

"Anybody got any ideas?!"

Banner didn't have time to respond, having to join Iron Man in holding the thing down while Rogers worked to bypass the lockdown and come help. Of the eight straps originally put in place, five were ripped open, three mangled, and the six new ones were either severely damaged or already snapping open.

A sharp yell preceded a long blade slamming into the creature's chest, jerking the body violently before effectively pinning the thing in place when the blade twisted to engage three nasty spikes and stab deep into the metal table top.

Before Tony could say anything, the intercom crackled again, this time the low growl from Loki was overshadowed by another voice.

"_By the Norns Sif! You were not to destroy it!_"

She scoffed, jumping off the table with ease while the others backed off, watching the flailing creature remain actually trapped now with her weapon embedded in it. "I did not, the monster still lives."

Thor growled at her, "_I meant the table._"

The eye roll was visible even if the warrior wasn't facing the observation deck.

Xxx

Xx

Xxx

Loki rubbed at his eyes, following Thor through the hallways weaving through the compound.

While Sif's custom weapon had been able to keep the zombie thing in place, it wasn't enough and finally Stark had proven too impatient to figure something else out to contain it.

Decapitation proved effective as well, as long as the head and body were not close enough for the jagged spinal cord and nerves to reattach themselves.

That image would haunt Loki for several nights to come, only adding to the gruesomeness in his mind that clouded sleep.

Once the pieces of the creature were properly separated and set for further examination, Thor had relented to Loki's not so subtle hints to leave. With Sif once again armed, after the blade and spikes had been cleaned off of the crusty residue from the creature, and the lab no longer in full lockdown, Loki's inability to remain standing was enough prompting to get Thor to move.

While the others were either in research or other duties, Loki was content to find his room and just collapse.

Instead, Thor dragged Loki to his own suite, commanding the room to be darkened and shut off from the others. Loki's own wasn't allowed to do that. The low murmur of confirmation from the integrate intelligence Stark commanded, was echoed by a low yawn from Thor.

Once away from prying eyes, Loki let his frame slump, leaning back against the closed door while Thor wandered off to change into sleep wear. The blonde had been given notice early that morning of the impromptu flight, Loki had not.

A sharp swear that was hissed out in a whisper, drew Loki's focus to see his adopted brother scowling at the bed.

And its unconscious occupant.

Katherine had stolen clothing from Stark judging by the colors, either unlikely or unwilling to change her garb via magic, now she was covered in red and gold sleep pants and shirt much too big for her but it wasn't revealing. At least not how she was sprawled out on one edge of Thor's bed, half buried beneath a pillow and blanket.

Thor grumbled quietly, but made no move to disturb her, instead changing in the bathroom before pulling extra bedding from the closet.

"Would you prefer the lounge brother? She will not move, she is not one to shift during slumber that I have found. Nor will she be adverse to company." Thor glanced at the slumbering body, a faint smile stretching his face, "If she will even notice…"

Loki shrugged, unable to really think well enough, Thor sighed, but nudged the other to the bed, "Sleep Loki, Katherine will not mind."

Groggy beyond belief, Loki was able to see Thor sprawl out on the couch he had in his bedroom for whatever reason. And like his brother, once tucked under the heavy covers, Loki was soon asleep.

* * *

**Tada!**

**Reviews feed the Muse!**


	13. Chapter 13

_**ENDGAME SPOILERS!**_

_**YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**_

* * *

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! If I did, Tony would be yelling at me.**

**Summary: The scales are unbalanced, they have been for a very long time. And someone is getting pissed off that this keeps happening. So she decides to set things right. Very unconventionally...the Universe is not ready for this...no one is. Undying is a worse fate than torture, making you long for the sweet pain of death.**

**Review Please!**

**I'm sorry...I'm horrible at updating...**

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen  
**

Xxx

_Avengers Compound_

_July 8th_

_1:47pm_

Xxx

Loki awoke briefly to voices near him, but not at him. The low rocking of the bed jarring his sleep just enough, that Loki stirred to blink blearily at Thor near the bed. He smirked to Loki, but held a hand over him to steady Katherine as she untangled herself from the blankets to leave. The shadowed shape of one of the Avengers awaited the woman in the backlit doorway of Thor's bedroom. Once she was gone, Loki slipped back into sleep, too interested in the heavy pull and warmth than in the happenings around them.

Instead of the black-out unconsciousness, Loki hovered in the realm of dozing and barely napping, allowing the hours to fade by while Thor did much the same across the room, a growling snore rumbling infrequently as the elder of the two drifted in and out of true sleep as well.

Somewhere, something shifted within the compound, Loki barely noted the faint shift in humming that radiated through the walls like yet another electronic controlled machine was being activated. If anything, it soothed something deep within Loki's aching frame and made it easier to rest.

Xxx

_3:30pm_

Xxx

Clint nudged Steve over further at the observation window, both of them supervising the activities within the blast chamber especially rigged for what was going on. After Sif's abrupt decapitating the first_ zombie_, for lack of a better descriptor, Stark and Banner had done everything they could to dissect the unliving body before allowing Dr. Strange and another sorcerer Wong to take over. Eighteen hours later, _another_ zombie had showed up near the location of the other's arrival. That one was captured by a mix of Avengers and Wakandan methods when Shuri's ship intercepted the altercation upon the princess' arrival.

Now, the damn thing was locked in the blast chamber, reinforced by Stark shielding and Wakandan buffering technology. The buffer was activated mid-afternoon, after the zombie had almost pushed through Stark's shielding, it dampened it's strength enough to allow better observation.

Shuri had finally been allowed closer to the blast chamber, after the monitoring had proven the buffer was working to ensure everyone's safety. It was at Steve's insistence, that she stayed back, and if it weren't for T'Challa's earlier agreement, Shuri might have forced her way sooner.

Both Barton and Rogers jerked back a bit when the contained zombie bodily rammed into the wall, not seeing to even realize it was still a solid obstruction it couldn't muscle through. This one looked more like a Chitauri body than the last one, but still gross.

Tony growled, flicking his ear piece to wake up the microphone as he stared at the monitors relaying the constant scans of the thing's…vitals? Steve wasn't sure.

"_This thing just doesn't stop…all cognitive function for inhibitions or bodily limitations_…" Stark shook his head, slamming a hand on the shock button to force the zombie off the wall it was clawing at and damaging itself dangerously, risking the observation getting cut short, "_Completely mindless other than its objective_."

"_Which would appear to be bodily harm against their targets. Though their exact function isn't truly apparent, almost as if they are scouts, with those who have been located on Earth_." Shuri tapped in a short command to the digital display in the blast chamber, meant for holographic targets to test weaponry, this one was a display of Scott Lang, someone who had yet to come in contact with any of the zombies and who had never heard of the void let alone interacted with it like Kat.

Shuri swore in another language, going with Stark pulling her aside as the zombie went after the hologram, falling through the projection to attack the windowed wall yet again. The force buffeted the shield so hard, to maintain its own integrity, the blast glass cracked from pressure.

"_Well…that's not good_." Tony double checked Shuri was alright, before he closed down the scan equipment and retracted the devices into the protective casings of the chamber walls, "_Barton, go call Dr. Pym, I want him to look over some of this, gonna send it to Strange too, I don't want to hold this any longer…I…_" Tony swore as the window cracked further, "_Someone might want to go find Kat! I don't think we can wait_-"

"Stark!"

The explosion of glass was enough for the Ironman suit to activate, shoving Shuri aside to blast the zombie back and give them space. Steve pulled the princess through the observation door, trying to shield her when Stark gave up on holding the zombie and just had FRIDAY incinerate the entire chamber.

"Shit…"

Xxx

Judging by the ache in his stomach from time passing, it had to be late evening when Loki finally pulled himself from sleep, hearing Thor fumble around in the bathroom before approaching the bed at the sound of his adopted brother groaning softly.

"Care to join the waking world? I'm sure there's food available somewhere and I want to check on Heimdall, there was apparently another of those creatures found outside the compound and Stark has been trying to determine just what it is."

"Sounds incredibly boring." Loki grumbled, still buried beneath the blankets.

"Thought you were always up to discovering new things."

"Not when it apparently does not agree with the concept of dying."

Thor chuckled, lightly tugging on the pillow Loki was using to get him to appear, "Had enough of that have we?"

Humming softly, he rolled over just enough to begin to see the sunset through Thor's windows, "I'd rather not experiment any further."

"Glad to hear, come…food awaits and you should at least get something in you in case you start to feel ill again."

Loki sat up in agreement, yawning softly while watching Thor hunt for his shoes in the closet. Before, Loki would have waved a hand and righted his appearance, now he had to put the effort in and was debating on how much he wanted to do so. Thor turned just then, glancing up from tying the Midgardian footwear and suddenly stopping after a harsh double take.

"Loki, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, why?"

Standing, Thor approached the bed warily, "Are you sure?"

"Yes?" Loki's brow furrowed, "What is it?"

"FRIDAY," Thor glanced towards the ceiling, a low chirp signaling the artificial intelligence was listening, "Lock down my rooms, no one gets in."

"_Confirmed_."

Heavy shades dropped over the window glass, the door locks engaging with loud pops while a low light started to increase intensity to illuminate the space.

"Thor-"

"Loki," The hand reaching for him hesitated, while Thor looked a mix of nervous and downright confused, "Loki, what's wrong?"

"What in the nine realms are you-" Loki's hand rose to swipe through his hair to right the messiness of sleep, pausing when the appendage caught his attention; staring at the long fingers, Loki's throat almost closed up again on its own accord.

"What-"

Dark blue skin covered his hand, a slightly lighter, grayish tone on the palm with darker lines. An intricate swirl graced the back and trailed off in thin lines of black up his wrist and under the sleeve. A quick jerk revealed the other hand matched, as did his lower arms.

Loki almost threw himself across Thor's bed, stumbling as he hit the floor and the bare feet were just as dark blue as his hands.

Thor was shouting behind him, but before either of them could stop it, the lights flooded on in the bathroom to highlight the mirror as Loki stared at the grim reflection.

Indigo covered his skin, lighter tones in certain areas with a tinge of grey, etched lines highlighting bone structure and features and curling up to mark the demigod's temples where the marks almost formed a crown headpiece. Deep crimson eyes stared back at him, the smoldering opposite of the emerald the irises usually bore.

Thor's reflection barely registered in Loki's mind when it appeared beside him, especially not as he tried everything to reach his glamours and force his appearance back to normal.

"Loki, why-"

"It's not working-"

"What, brother-"

Loki spun on the blonde, almost about to shove him away before recoiling sharply, "It's not working! The glamour! I can't reach it!"

Thor tried to grab his shoulder, especially when Loki tugged on the t-shirt to follow the lines tracing down his throat and over his limbs, again he jerked away, fear lighting up the red eyes. "Don't touch me!"

"Loki, please-"

"S-stay back-"

"Loki!"

Shaking his head, Loki backed into the shower stall, blocked from any further retreat as he tried to hold up a hand to stop the other from getting closer, flinching away at the dark skin color, "Thor, _please._"

Thor wasn't listening, not until his voice pleaded just as Loki's had, "Tell me."

"I…" Loki hissed, rubbing at his eyes to stop the tears he couldn't control, "I don't want to hurt you…"

The admittance made the thunder god pause, but Thor did stop his advance, turning instead to the sink, "You won't brother, are you cold? That's what cracked your glamours last time did it not? The casket?"

Nodding, Loki didn't approach the sink until Thor reluctantly backed away further. The water was steaming when Loki slid a hand beneath the flow, watching the cascade cover his fingers. A low hiss slid past his lips, and while the water ran it only increased in temperature to the point Loki had to strain not to react.

The heat wasn't working, and instead of warming back to the normal Asgardian shade, the skin started to darken, reacting to the scalding hot water.

"Loki stop!"

"No! I-"

Thor yanked him back, releasing his hands when Loki flinched but did turn the faucet off and throwing a towel at his cringing brother, "Not if it is hurting you, let me see-"

"Don't touch me!" Loki couldn't hide the frantic whine that time, cradling his burning hand to his chest and trying not to look at the blue skin.

"Brother please…let me help."

"_Why_?!" Loki's eyes jerked to Thor's, the sting in them more from the tears again as Thor flinched at the gaze, "Why bother! Look at me, I'm a _monster_!"

That earned a deeper cringe, but Thor's frame slumped in defeat instead of defensively, "No Loki…"

Shaking his head, Thor left, allowing Loki to lean against the shower door and slid bonelessly to the floor. Hissing in pain, he tried to calm his breathing, soothe the panic that was making it difficult to focus on the fringes of the glamours anchored deep in his mind.

Loki did look up when Thor's heavy footsteps returned, this time admitting Brilid behind him who was at Loki's side without an ounce of fear in her eyes.

"What were you two idiots thinking?"

"I didn't do this, I swear-"

Brilid didn't allow Loki to shy away from her touch, tsking at him and outright grabbing his wrist when he tried to lean away. When she didn't flinch away in pain, Loki had to focus on her hands, her skin not reacting like most did when in contact with a frost giant's.

"How-"

"T'is a pity the books within your mother's study were destroyed instead of passed back to the library." Brilid carefully examined the scald burn, a flick of her other hand bringing a cool cloth to her aid as she soothed the aching skin, "Many of which had resided on the proper shelves until Odin decided to bring you back from his warmongering. Then they were removed and stored in the Allmother's rooms for safekeeping. Jotun skin-" Brilid yanked on Loki's wrist when he tried to pull away, not wanting the icy touch to harm her, "Does not actively chill others through touch, not without prompting. It's for defense and as you have not been taught how, nor likely discovered it yourself-" Loki shook his head rapidly, "I am not, nor are any others in immediate danger. Not unless you were truly panicked."

"How do you know this?"

Brilid flicked Loki's ear, reassurance in her smirk when he finally met her gaze properly even if tears were still slowly creeping down his etched cheeks, "I read the books stupid boy, the Allfather had them destroyed after his wife's passing, but I did find time to read them. I was in on the palace's best kept secret long before either of you princes knew."

Thor grunted softly, "I wondered why you never questioned Mother's requests with Loki's training. I thought it was just her way for making up for Loki not keeping pace with the rest of us."

Shaking her head, Brilid guided Loki to stand, sitting him on the tub edge near the vanity so she could better see the burn, Loki just held his arm out for her, refusing to face the mirror even in the slightest.

"No, I was there when Frigga was handed a crying baby who couldn't maintain a proper glamour for more than a few hours. I believe between the two of us, we set the baselines for the cover in the first place, to hold more permanently than what Loki was already doing on his own." Brilid dampened her cloth again, this time manually instead of with magic, pressing the compress over the burn on the back of Loki's hand, "You learned to reinforce those links without even realizing it. And still are holding them tightly."

"What?" Loki still flinched when he instinctively glanced at his hand, a bare inkling of hope that Brilid had been able to trigger the glamour back into place, only to still find indigo instead of pink.

"The glamour is intact, at least its presence, as for why you are not showing such…" Brilid trailed off, "Thor, go ask your friends if any new spells were placed on the building, something changed today and it wasn't my doing, or Loki's."

Complying, Thor left without comment, but did pause long enough to grip Loki's shoulder tightly in support before departing. Even that made Loki recoil, horribly uneasy about the blue skin covering him.

"I can't feel it."

"Feel what?"

"My glamours, any of them." Loki pulled on his shirt collar, revealing blue skin, and scars. Brilid didn't press for a better view, waiting until the fabric was covering the marks again and Loki was a bit steadier in his breathing.

"Does Thor know how deep those run?"

"No, and I don't want him to."

She nodded, not unkindly when she adjusted the compress, "The Titan cut deep, and not just you little one. Thor would be understanding, but I will not say a word without your permission."

"And this?" Loki waved at himself vaguely, knowing his eyes held the anxiety his voice was barely portraying.

Brilid sighed softly, "He loves you Loki, no matter if your glamours are in place or not. And he will love you still even with the knowledge of the scars. _And_-" She cut off his attempts at protest, "And Thor is not angered, he is _worried_, we both know your glamours are deeply intertwined and should not have done this. He knows and respects that, in fact I think he's honestly scared _for_ you if something has gone wrong that we can't undo for you. My lips are sealed, as are his. No one will know about this, not unless completely necessary."

She reached for him like when he was young, unsure in his power and needing less than formal reassurance. Only this time, Loki didn't lean into her touch, shying away with a shake of his head. Brilid nodded in understanding, but purposefully caught his chin to look him in the eyes again as if to prove he wasn't hurting her.

Xxx

The lab was silent as Tony worked through the extensive scan results, slowing down every camera roll into micro shots to double check the multiple angles for any further information. No matter how many passes he made through the data, there wasn't anything he could find that they could have done differently. Short of pulling Kat or Strange in to help restrain the zombie-thing, the blast chamber was the last they had for now until Shuri could get a more permanent containment set up established.

So far, everything was focusing on Kat, and as long as she stayed near the compound, it kept others safe. Stark hated using anyone as bait, but if it kept the danger far away from those more vulnerable…it might be a negotiable price if Kat stopped _jumping_ everywhere and wearing herself out before the things attacked her.

As for Kat today, she was hidden deep within the compound, avoiding the latest body's capture and subsequent death. She was resting up to go get Pepper from the Tower as Happy had other plans for the evening for once. After that, she wouldn't be leaving for a while until they had a better grasp on things.

The guardians had taken off for their outer reaches, hoping to gather information from the new scanner Shuri and Banner had put together to track the miniscule DNA fragments gathered from the bodies. They'd hit up a couple close star systems, poking around in case any galactic gossip about the zombies was wider spread than just Earth.

It left the compound quieter, especially since Loki and Thor had yet to appear even after FRIDAY had confirmed both had slept for close to eighteen hours before Tony had gone looking for Kat that morning.

Watching the warning boxes flash over his screens again, Tony sighed heavily, tapping the keys to lock down their controls and leaving FRIDAY to her processing. Wong had already grabbed the second body from the ruins of the blast chamber, and Strange was in the middle of debriefs with Steve elsewhere.

Time to find food, and a new direction for questions.

Reaching the lounge, Tony waved vaguely at those sprawled on the couches, watching the NYC news for the weather forecast and fluff stories, a distraction from the chaos that the compound had turned into.

Romanoff was off with Wanda, going over footage with Wilson on possible other incidents, leaving Rogers, Barton, Barnes and Rhodey in the common area with Heimdall finally released from the infirmary. None commented as Stark dug through the fridge, picking over the leftovers and ignoring the heavy footsteps approaching from one wing of the resident halls.

"Man of Iron."

"What's up Point Break?"

Xxx

"So…" Tony rubbed at his eyes, "Why are you asking about the buffer technology? Thought this-"

Thor cut him off, "I am sorry Stark, but I need to know what all the device does, or if anything else magic rf electric has been changed about the compound this afternoon."

"But _why_? Not that I mind the curiosity, but c'mon Point Break since when do you care about the tech guarding our backs while we sleep?"

Sighing, Thor fought his temper down, ignoring the pensive look on Sif's face across the conference room, "Stark, I cannot explain that at this moment, but I do need an answer, preferably quickly if you will, what spell was placed over the compound or even just my chambers for that matter-"

Tony waved a hand at a wall of computer screens, "Thor, I've got like sixty different scans and things going all over the place, especially after that zombie thing broke out of the blast chamber. You're gonna have to be more specific."

"I don't care about that, I mean what has been done that is causing-" Thor cut himself off, growling softly and pinching the bridge of his nose, "Where any spells placed?"

He didn't have time for these endless loops of questions and non-answers. After finding Brilid and hastily explaining Loki's…_issue_…in hushed tones in their rush back across the building, the mage had gently explained the risks of the glamour faults. It was less that Loki would lose the ability, and more he would work himself into such a panic he would actively lose control and could still hurt someone with a touch. After refusing to discuss his concerns in front of too many people, Thor had brokenly consented to Strange and Sif joining Tony and Thor in private.

"None." Dr. Strange's sharp answer cut in behind Thor, stopping Tony's questioning quickly, "Just buffering technology to stop that creature from shifting out of this dimension, it doesn't do any-what happened to your arm?"

Thor paused in idly scratching at his forearm, the sleeve pulled up to relieve the irritation, glancing at it, he found small lines tracing out from an old scar, "Oh, that's always been there, just a scar, it's usually-"

Grunting in shock, Thor yanked on the sleeve to find a couple other marks revealed, all of which shouldn't be visible, "Why has _my_ glamour failed?"

"Your-"

Tony stiffened, glancing at Strange for confirmation, neither could respond when Sif snorted abruptly.

"Oh that is rich! Glamours failing?" She smirked wildly, "I bet _Loki_ is finding this fascinating."

Her tease was met with a growl from Thor, and he did actively nudge her aside when she tried to hip check him.

Tony just stared for a moment, spinning away on his rolling chair to activate a wall radio, "Hey Princess, got a minute?"

Strange glanced at him, "Stark?"

"Glamour isn't like shape shifting, right Doc?"

"No, it's more of a cover, like a film placed over a camera lens."

"_What is it colonizer_?" Shuri's voice called from FRIDAY's speakers.

"Cute," Tony wasn't finding it funny, "That buffer tech you brought, it's vibrational right?"

"_Yes, disrupts the links between planes to break the phasing. I developed it after Thanos was able to appear on Earth without any heavy tech or a ship. The energy output on such an occurrence was easy to displace._"

"But what else does it do? Vibrational displacement can disrupt a lot of things-"

Shuri sounded nonchalant, informative as she spoke, "_It's Chitauri based technology, meant to break apart the cloaking properties as it is similar to the travel aspect to phase from visual detection and even some scanning equipment. The vibrational disruptions-_"

"Break apart light refraction used in the cloaking tech."

"_Exactly._"

"Tony-"

The genius shook his head, finishing with Shuri before standing abruptly, "A film on a camera adjust the light intake, a glamour is just a fancy film. Light refraction, the damn buffer tech is setting it off all over the compound."

"Breaking any glamours, no one can hide behind the falsehoods." Sif shrugged indifferently, "What is your point Man of Iron?"

"The point Sif," Thor growled, "Is that there are some here who would much rather the glamours remain functional!"

She scoffed, "Is Loki feeling a little _blue_?"

"Oh shit-"

Tony was running before Thor was, Dr. Strange right behind him, "FRIDAY! Cut all power to the buffer tech now!"

"_Initiating shut down._"

"_Stark! What's going on?_!"

"Not now Rogers!" Tony slid around a corner, pushing off from the wall with a growl, "Doc, you check Loki, I got Kat!"

"On it!"

"Doctor! I don't think-" Thor didn't get a chance to continue, the sorcerer flashing a portal in front of them to save time and the thunder god stumbled to a stop in the middle of his bedroom.

Loki flinched when they appeared, caught between angry and nervous as the sorcerer stalked closer. The new humming in the walls abruptly died down, fading out and going silent. It took another minute before Loki's skin started to meld back into the Asgardian visage, Brilid humming softly in approval as first the pink skin appeared and then the scald burn shifted from a purple tinted mark to an actual wound.

Jerking to his feet, Loki almost stumbled in his haste to see his reflection, a hand rubbing at his damp cheeks to check on the integrity of the image.

"Are you alright?"

"I-"

Dr. Strange cut off any protests or accusations, "Are you alright? The new tech Stark activated disrupted the glamours, even Thor's. I want to make sure there's no lasting effects."

Loki shook his head, hesitating only briefly, "No…I don't…I don't think so."

He did lean into Brilid's touch, Thor could recognize that when the mage lightly cupped Loki's cheek and ran her own check since Loki wasn't truly able.

"They're intact, completely. I don't believe they'll fail either, as long as that doesn't happen again." She explained, glancing to Strange in question.

The sorcerer shook his head, "No, not unless absolutely necessary. I won't allow it."

"Why?"

Thor jerked his gaze to Loki, not understanding the confusion, "Why what brother?"

"Why?" Loki repeated, gesturing vaguely at himself, "Glamours conceal and it has never been made more clear to me that the Avengers and even yourself do not trust me, and yet-"

Dr. Strange didn't let him go on, "I know the price of glamours, I don't chose to use them myself, but I know what they mean to others. I will not intentionally pull someone out of that unless medically necessary, or without their consent. I will not force you to do that Loki, try not to stab me for it."

Xxx

Loki was subdued when Thor finally convinced him to go find food together, Brilid backing the elder brother and taking Loki's arm to stop any physical disagreement between the pair. While the two continued to snipe at one another, Dr. Strange ended up escorting the mage to the common area instead, neither breaking up the rather useless argument that was more of a way to destress than an actual fight.

Once out where others could see him, Loki couldn't stop the instinctive need to glance at his hands, checking yet again to ensure there wasn't a speck of blue in sight. No one really cared about their arrival, none but Sif even gave them more than a quick glance.

The warrior was staring, an arrogant smirk growing more bold when Loki's eyes narrowed at her.

She knew.

Swallowing back any kind of retort, Loki tried to focus on the food options available with the odd hour for a meal time. Dr. Strange paused his search, grabbing Loki's wrist to examine the burn after trying to grab a plate elicited a stifled hiss.

A low sigh slid from the sorcerer, before he carefully and quickly wrapped gauze around Loki's hand, protecting the weakened skin, "Here, one less thing to worry about, or hide."

Nodding in gratitude, Loki cradled the bandaged hand to his chest, accepting Thor's silent signal for his brother to find a seat instead of worry about balancing a plate with an injured hand.

Loki eased into an armchair, sinking into the cushions in relief at the settling of the aches that been trying to take over again after the stress undid all of the hard work sleeping had resulted in. A moment of peace, even if only for a moment.

"Loki," Sif taunted, "I was wondering where you were, looking rather-"

"Do you not have _anything_ better to do than-"

She grinned, mockingly, as she took a seat across from him so he wasn't able to look away, "Oh but I _really_ don't, not when all of Asgard's high court is in one place, we cannot have the crown become vulnerable because they are without proper guard now can we?"

"And just what would know of vulnerability-"

"I know plenty," She flicked a wrist, examining her bracer covered arm casually in indifference to the scowl on Loki's face, "And I also know that there's a little trick to your petty glamours, one even mere humans can use to bring down such-"

Brilid cleared her throat, trying to cut off the warrior with a scowl of her own. She was promptly ignored even after stepping close to Loki's chair to get Sif's attention.

"Watch your words Lady Sif-"

She glared back, fingering her sword hilt in warning, "Watch your own words silver tongue, you cannot hide behind magic forever-"

"Sif-" Thor's growl was interrupted by Kat's approach, the woman walking into a building war zone without even realizing it. A metal object clanked loudly on the dining table when she slammed it down, glaring at Shuri and Rogers seated there.

"Turn that damn thing on one more time and I'll blow it up." She snapped, sparks lighting up across her fingers when she pointed at Tony who'd rushed in behind her.

Stark must have caught her up, and she obviously wasn't happy, "Look Kat, we didn't know-"

Rogers stood up, ignoring Shuri's examining the small cube on the table, runes etched over its surface, "The technology is necessary to contain those creatures, I think a little sacrifice can be afforded-"

The captain was lucky Thor had moved to intercept, Stark wasn't enough to stop Katherine from lunging forward. Even Loki reacted, a hand on Brilid's arm in case he had to move her when Kat snarled in anger.

"Then _ask_! How do you think I've kept myself secure when being attacked by those damn things? They're crossing the Void!"

Ignoring the shock crossing the others' faces, Thor plucked up the cube to see it better, grunting softly as the surfaces twisted and spun beneath his fingertips in fluctuation to someone's touch.

"A rune lock, that must have cost you a fortune."

Kat shrugged, still staring down Steve with her frustration, but her voice was calm enough she was released, "No more than I was willing to pay, it's supposed to stop others from traveling too closely to myself. Safer in the Void that way."

Tony took the small device next, turning the cube in his hands to see all six faces, "Looks almost like binary. Would runes be programmable into a shield?"

"Never had a need to try, do what you will with it, but _don't_ activate that machine."

Rogers stopped Kat from leaving the room, grabbing her upper arm tightly to keep her in place, "We didn't know about the side effects. We can try to adjust the buffering to keep things from happening again, but we can't just throw away that kind of advantage-"

If Rogers thought he was placating the woman, he was wrong. This time there was no magic backing her hand, but that didn't stop Katherine from slapping the Captain across the face with all she had. He swung with the movement, shock stopping him from dodging the blow and instinctively letting go.

"I will only say this once Captain Rogers, because you blatantly have forgotten when I answered you years ago. If there is _one_ thing, that I will not tolerate, it is someone who thinks that glamours are useless. You have no idea what lies behind what you call fake masks and the truth is more often harder to swallow. A mistake was made and it is done, but it better not happen again."

With that, she left, her clothes fading into a basic Midgardian outfit and even her hair shifting colors to better hide.

Tony scowled at her departure, but didn't allow any others to follow, "She'll be in a better mood after she gets back with Pepper. I suggest we _all_ get it into our heads that we don't mess with any glamours in place, got it?"

Sif huffed in irritation, "And just what is your worker hiding then, Man of Iron? She is just a mage-"

"Who is also a capable Siphon and Void Jumper-"

"A trickster-" Sif snapped, ignoring Loki's attempt at an explanation, "What could she possibly do to any of us in her anger?"

"Other than level the compound?" Tony set the cube on the table, flicking it with a finger to make the unearthly metal spin on top of the glass, "She's told be about these things before, rune locks aren't easy to come by."

"They cost a fortune on Asgard, even for the royal family." Brilid jumped in, accepting the device when Tony nodded his permission, "It takes several skilled magic users to form a single device, each facet a shielding curio, connected together to stop anything trying to approach it once activated. I have only seen two others, and neither were in Asgard's possession."

"Not for lack of trying," Loki glared at Sif when the warrior stalked away, "I tried to barter for one decades ago, the owner wouldn't budge."

"Nor did this one," Brilid turned the device so one face was up to the light, "The signature, the group who formed the lock are now dead, have been for nigh on a century. It would not surprise me if this has been passed around until with Katherine's possession. Would not mind discovering just how she acquired it."

Tony shrugged, "Ask away once she gets back, though I'd offer her alcohol in exchange for information. She's pretty volatile right now."

"You noticed it too?" Strange asked.

"More like saw it," Tony gestured back towards the hallway, "Kat's glamours failed horribly and she's pissed, hers didn't come back right away once the buffer tech was shut off. It's not just her combat skills that are misfiring, she's legit having problems."

"What does she look like? Under her falsehood?"

"Sif!"

Before Thor could so much as take a step, Sgt. Barnes was on his feet and yanking on Sif's arm, shocking her with how easily he could get her to move, "You know, I'm not much for magic shit, don't really care either way, but I'm pretty sure you don't go asking stuff like that."

Brilid hummed in agreement, staring Sif down with an authority the warrior was obviously fighting, "I suggest you find elsewhere to be Lady Sif, to better avoid insulting your king any further. Stark, you spoke of using the rune lock to augment your own shields?"

"Yeah, think it will work?"

"I do not know enough about your world to make a guess, but I can certainly read the runes enough to help ease the attempt. And perhaps someone could fill me in on that girl before she returns."

Xxx

_10:20pm_

Xxx

"So rune locks act as blockers to the energies used in travel, creating a transference dead zone around the user, but it's not always active…"

"Correct."

"And it also acts like a computer firewall to keep out unwanted activities and we're using that as an integration point to meld the spell work with the shield technology."

"How far is the range?"

"A rune lock can maintain security for no more than a ten foot diameter, perhaps more if augmented with other spells but it is taxing to do so. This will possibly follow the shield's capabilities itself without a weakening of its affects, but perhaps not."

"What if a rune lock was made with vibranium? The natural multiplying factors within the metal could strengthen the energies and increase the space."

"But how would we transfer the power? A duplication of the outside won't be enough, there's further rune work within the cube that is unseen and more important than the exterior."

"Then can't we crack it open?"

"Not without risking damage to the ingrained marks Barton."

"Don't gotta be rude about it Loki."

"Just stating a fact."

"I still believe vibranium would boost the power-"

"That doesn't answer the question Shuri, as to how to make a vibranium rune lock if we don't have the knowledge."

"It's not necessarily the lack of knowledge," Loki ignored the glare Barton shot him, waving a hand at the cube sitting innocuolously on the conference table, "More of the lack of skill. Asgard possessed only five seidr users capable of traversing through the Void and a minimum of six are usually required to form a rune lock. If Thor is correct, only two of us are left and I certainly cannot be of assistance, requires magic that I don't have."

"And I've never seen the spell work for this in any of the sanctum's records," Strange moved the cube to his hand with a thought, ignoring the twitches from the gathered Avengers in their surprise, "I've heard about them, but more as a warning as they can interfere with portals if improperly used. To _make_ one, might be more than any of us can handle at the moment."

"It wouldn't be any good to lose someone in the process." Brilid muttered, none too kindly nudging Thor to stop him from commenting.

Steve didn't understand the catch, "How would you lose someone? Kat's mentioned rune work before, the text holding the spell written like a battery."

Dr. Strange spoke instead of Brilid, nodding in deference when she took the rune lock from him, "You're not _writing_ the runes when forming them, it's infusing an object-charging a battery if you will-with the spell and the energies it requires. If I'm understanding this right, a rune lock uses the flow of power used in traveling to shut down the power it comes in contact with, backflow pressure basically. Writing a rune is nothing, forming it ensures it does what it's told and without corruption."

"But why so many people? One for each side of the cube?"

Barton's question earned a shrug from Thor, the thunder god sitting up better with a growl, "There are dozens of ways to travel across realms, the Bifrost-Loki's shadow stepping-Sorcerer portals-Katherine's jumps-and all of them require different levels of skill and different power. The more magic forced into a rune lock to disrupt travel, the more it blocks as very few are capable of multiple forms of travel. Loki has never formed a portal such as Dr. Strange can, and I highly doubt Brilid is capable of Katherine's methods."

Loki scoffed, "I could possibly create one, but that is rather amateur considering-"

"Oh, like you can leave at whim right now anyway-"

"Don't question me half-rate…"

"Loki, not the time."

"Let'em fight Brilid, this is gonna be good-"

"Clint!"

"What is going on in here? Tony, you better not have left Morgan with Bruce all day."

Pepper's sudden appearance in the doorway stopped Loki from snapped back at Dr. Strange, and while she wasn't unusual around the compound, the man behind her was.

"Happy?" Tony stood up, "What the hell, why are you here? Why's it so late?"

Hogan shrugged, "Anders never showed up boss, Pepper was stuck at the Tower til I got back into town and drove her up."

"Pepper?"

"She's not answering her phone, and FRIDAY couldn't track her in my office."

Thor stood up, fists clenched tight, "Then where is she?"

* * *

**Tada!**

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